Letters home. We think about writing often but seldom find the time or make the time to pick up the pen. Yet, in those unwritten words are priceless treasures, lifetimes of lessons learned never passed down to the younger generations; admissions of mistakes never shared with those taking the same path; the true hearts, minds, and lives of loved ones never really known. We phone, sometimes, but not often and rarely do we truly speak about situations lingering on our mind, rarely do we discuss the depth of emotion we felt at a certain place or time, and rarely do we share the deepest parts of our souls. No, that is reserved for the pen.
There is something uniquely special about a letter, the written word. Unlike a voice mail or a telephone conversation, a letter is solid, allowing us to hold on to it, allowing us to read it over and over again if we want, allowing us to store it away and keep it safe for years, protecting it like the treasure that it is. A century or more after a letter is written, we can find ourselves immersed in the love or confusion written about at that time. And, years after a letter is originally written, we can read documented evidence of where someone was at a particular point in their life, looking up from reading to see how far we’ve come in our own life since then.
A letter is personal, unlike the cold, technological e-mail or a voice recording, and reveals so much more about a person. What type of paper was used, was the stationary perfume scented, or was green ink used to write instead of the traditional black or blue are all signs of the writer’s mood and personality. Sometimes, letters have drawings in the margins such as a heart, initials, or a facial expression. Sometimes a smudge of chocolate from a melting candy bar is found on the corner of the sheet. Sometimes letters have family photographs hidden between the folds, falling out of the letter and into our hands as if they were handed to us by an invisible ghost standing nearby.
Words are uses in letters that aren’t used in conversations, quick e-mails, or even greeting cards. A letter allows the writer time to collect their thoughts, choose their words, and to delve deeply into their hearts so that they can share more of their experience with the intended receiver. When an e-mail may quickly note that a county fair was attended or a voice may say in conversation that lots of fun was had, that too many hotdogs were eaten, or that it was really hot outside, a letter home will talk about the sweet taste of pink cotton candy that stuck to the fingers in the hot July sun and brought back memories of an earlier county fair when pink cotton candy was shared with a best friend. Or, it may describe the expressions on everyone’s faces in the mid-way when the prize-winning bull busted out of his stall, running through the mid-way until discovering that he really enjoyed the pink-cotton candy that dotted the dusty aisle after being thrown in panic. Where a beautiful greeting card may say, “I love you,” a letter home may reflect upon experiences had together and describe what those experiences mean to the writer, may acknowledge that the writer feels that no pain of war could ever be as great as the pain of missing that certain someone, or may explain that the writer feels as if their heart is in bloom, as bright as spring roses and wrapped in butterflies at the mere thought of someone special.
An amateur history book that describes our world, our culture, at any given time is found in letters written home. Within are the descriptions of popular music and war, views on religion and politics, thoughts on issues such as aging and violence, inflation and retirement, all written directly or implied between the lines of family news. Comparisons are regularly made between how the world is now and how it was when the writer was younger, usually resulting in some changes being for the better, some changes making life easier, and some changes that, in the writer’s eye, the world would have been better without.
A hundred years from now, when historians and archeologists are searching for clues to our society, our values, and our lifestyles, outside of the information they’ll receive from the popular media and formal textbooks, will they have letters to study as we’ve had when we’ve explored the past? Have we allowed the electronic age to replace the emotional depth of a hand-written letter home?
Letters home. We think about writing often but seldom find the time or make the time to pick up the pen. Have we forgotten the treasures within?
Through this series of letters, the fictional character of Christina Allgood sits at her father's old oak desk, looking out through the window over the field of clover, telling the story of her life and the lessons she's learned, a century of insight that she willingly shares with hope that others may avoid the same mistakes, the same failures, while enjoying similar successes and gaining insight into their own lives.
Letters Home begins in July, 1999, when a ninety-nine year old Christina faces a new era and looks back upon her century of living while facing her inevitable death, admitting to her regrets and rejoicing in the beauty of life and the power of forgiveness.
This work is fictional. Any resemblance to actual situations or persons, living or dead, is coincidental and unintentional.
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