Letters write their way into relationships
All of the handwritten messages that I have received over the years are stowed away in the second drawer of my desk, creaking loudly each time I pull them out. Each year, I receive more letters from birthdays, holidays and other occasions to add to my drawer, and when I open it, I am reminded of those I love and the memories we share.
My birthday is a day filled with celebration and I often receive many cards from family and friends. However, I experienced something completely different after downloading Snapchat last year. The feeling of excitement for a perfect day slowly diminished as my phone continued to ping and light up. As I was expected to reply to random people that I have talked to once in my life posting some kind of story for me, I eventually became flustered. It is almost like people want to brag to the hundreds of people they have added about how close they are with you when the only thing they can actually manage to come up with is the dreaded phrase- “hbd.” Suddenly, my own birthday has become more about the person posting about it rather than myself. If all someone has to say to me is three letters, then nothing needs to be said because we clearly are not good friends.
When I have had a rough day, I know that I can rely on my drawer of letters, filled with words from my family and friends to lift me up. These handwritten notes can also bring me back to a certain time, such as last year when I graduated from middle school or times like my fifth birthday.
Unlike these handwritten letters, which I can easily store, the process of saving messages and stories is a big fat question mark. Why should I take the time to either save the message, take a photo of it or print it when the sender could not even get off of the couch to reach for a pencil and paper? These meaningful messages that took approximately 30 seconds for someone to write easily become lost in my constant stream of notifications.
While texts are exchanged and forgotten, letters are cherished. To me, texts and stories on birthdays are careless and quick, yet they are an important example of how social media has normalized being “friends” with people you know nothing about.
