Letters

We got a letter from our grandson the other day, thanking us for his birthday gifts, and for coming to his birthday party. Although his mom wrote most of the letter, he finished it, signing his name in kindergarten script.
That letter made me smile all day! How delightful it is to get a note in the mail, especially one from a grandchild!
Sometimes I hear other grandmas complain that children don't send thank you notes any more, or that no one writes real letters. I always wonder if they send thank you notes themselves, or if they write real letters.
Even though the price of stamps and stationery goes up regularly, the value of a "real letter" is beyond price. When our basement flooded four years ago, one of the things I went out of my way to salvage was the letters I've saved from my own grandmas.
None of those letters contain much more than descriptions of what they were doing that day, what they were fixing for dinner, what kinds of things various relatives or neighbors were doing or thinking; they always finished up with questions about how I was doing, and messages of concern and love.
But holding a hand-written note from one of them takes me instantly back into their presence. I can almost hear their voices, smell their perfume, feel their hugs.
Jake's letter makes me feel the same way; I can almost hear him dictating his note for his mom to write down. I can see his smile as he makes a joke, feel his warm hug even as he wriggles out of reach.
That's why I make time to write postcards and notes to our grandchildren. I want them to feel my love for them even when I'm not there. I want them to appreciate the thrill of finding a personal letter in the mailbox.
I want them to want to write me back.