Handwritten Treasures

Letters are a legacy of love to the ones we leave behind.

In a short talk given in 2007, Lakshmi Pratury lamented the disappearing art of letter writing, and especially of letters written by hand.  She talks of the notes her father wrote to her when he was dying: "the paper that touched his hand is in mine, and I feel connected ..." she says.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lakshmi_pratury_on_letter_writing.html

Lakshmi concedes that email has a valid role in modern life, but hopes that letter writing will never be completely replaced by electronic communication.  She values things with a personal touch, such as the journal her father wrote for and about her, books that have been autographed by their authors, and heartfelt personal letters.  I couldn't agree more!


I love the variety of handwriting in my collection of letters.  My friend Amy Bodian showed her zest for life in her exuberant penmanship and decorative borders.

I still possess the hand-painted tapestry she refers to in this letter, "for prayers or whispering cares."   I keep it on my bedside table, a tangible memory of my dear friend.  More about Amy (J.T.) Bodian in tomorrow's post!





Letters from my Papa, my mother's father Joseph Rogovoy, show the style of cursive writing that my grandparents and parents learned in school - looping, connected letters at a serious slant.  Such penmanship seems undervalued in a world where its use is rarely required any more.

Although my dad almost always typed his letters to me, he signed them by hand - with a confident "Dad" that somehow evokes his entire dimpled grin.


My late husband Emmett Chase made great use of email to send me dozens of poems and messages, and I treasure those communications from our courting days.  But Emmett was also fond of handwritten cards and notes, and he gave me many during our marriage.  It's wonderful to hold in my hands a card that he chose, to read the words that he wrote.  Those simple handwritten words help sustain Emmett's support in my life.

I know there's a science to analyzing people's handwriting, and I don't profess to know a thing about it.  I find the fact that every individual has a unique way of writing fascinating, just as I find it amazing that everyone's fingerprints are unique.
Most of all, I love knowing that someone has taken up a pen, thought about me, and made their mark on the page.