My grandma moved to a new apartment within her assisted living complex last week. While packing up boxes, I discovered hundreds of letters that I'd sent her over the years, beginning with simple cards and childish handwriting. Each was carefully stashed in its envelope and the date of receipt was noted on the front. I was touched that she'd kept them. I could always count on my Nana to write and she was never angered by the fact that I wrote one short note in reply for every three long letters that she sent my way. She was the reason I adored checking my mail in college. A handwritten letter during the college years was worth its weight in gold.
It's funny how the generations utilize different communication tools: I don't think twice about picking up the phone to call my parents, or, more frequently, shoot them an email. But with my grandma, things are different. She's probably never used a computer and still thinks that long distance phone calls are insanely expensive. Stamps, on the other hand, are cheap.
We don't write much anymore, mostly because I now live only a few miles away and because she has trouble writing these days. But I miss her letters and I regret that I tossed most of the ones that she sent over 20+ years of correspondence.
I found this too. It was my first cross stitch effort and probably dates back to about 1989. I'm pretty sure it was also my last.
