I’m an old-fashioned kind of guy, probably because I am old. I remember growing up in this city, which was a great place in which to grow up. I remember family celebrations and gatherings. I remember my St. James family, and my school days there. (BTW, there’s a St. James Reunion being planned for October 11th of this year. Mark your calendars!)

I remember family rides on Sundays, family and group picnics during summers, sometimes a weekly rental of a cabin for vacation at Allegany State Park. I remember my early years backyard birthday parties playing drop the clothes pin in the Milk Bottle, Pin the Tail on the Donkey, maybe Musical Chairs, then came cake and ice cream, and all the kids left with a paper bag filled with some candy, balloons, a small toy or two, and me having to say thank you to all the guests who showed up. To those adults who gave me gifts through the mail or at a later time, I, as did my brothers and sister, my foster sister, and basically all my neighborhood friends too, had to sit down with pencil and paper and write thank you notes to be mailed to those who sent or gave me a gift.

The Thank You Card tradition (actually, a responsibility in our home) didn’t end in my youth. I remember, just shy of my 27th birthday, my mother reminding me numerous times, and then checking on me often to make sure I did, write, and mail out thank you notes to people who gifted us for our wedding. Sadly, the thank you card tradition has fallen by the wayside a lot, because it is easier to send an email, or shoot a text message, or just not send a card at all.

The same goes for using the USPS to send a letter. Technology has taken away the thrill of getting a nice, pleasant, meaningful, note from someone we love and/or care about, arriving at our home, amidst the barrage of requests for money (of which I wish I could help all who ask), or banks, businesses, political mumbo-jumbo, car ads, or Medicare Advantage, junk mail, and all the rest that literally is true junk mail. Sometimes, every so often, maybe we’d (I know I would) love to open an envelope from someone, just writing to say thank you for something we may have sent them for whatever reason, or offering hope that we are doing well, or telling us about something good happening in their lives. With Facebook and other Social media, we now send birthday greetings via text or Facebook (and many offer thanks for that using the same method), and we might use Facebook messaging to thank people for gifts, and we may send congratulations and/or condolences for events or circumstances that may happen in the lives of family and/or friends, but I still enjoy opening a card, or a letter, and reading a handwritten note created and sent from someone special to me.

I realize postage costs have increased a lot over the years, and I understand it is hard on some budgets, or fixed incomes, to send a lot through the postal mail. Sally and I have had to shorten some of our Christmas Card list, from about 135 to between 100 and 110. Included in our card is also a yearly letter summarizing our family and the year past, which I have been told by some, might be a bit lengthy. I know these types of letters are not welcomed by some, and I have no problem if someone opens the card and drops the letter in the circular file, but I will continue send them out because, one, it is a way to connect with family members living all over this country, two it lets us reconnect with people who are close to us, and three, it might just take some time away from the junk mail, the requests for money, etc., and hearing about political spits and spats from many of our elected “leaders.” I know, for all those reasons, receiving just a nice friendly letter always, puts a smile on my face and sometimes a giggle to my lips.

Back while teaching 4th grade grammar, we taught how to write friendly letters (Heading, Salutation, Body, Closing, Signature) and address envelopes (Return Address, Receiver’s Mailing Address). They then had to write a letter to someone special to them. After the drafts were up to requirements and all spelling and punctuation were correct, students had to do a final copy as neatly as they could, and we gave them an envelope to address and a stamp to put on it, and we mailed their letters to whomever they wrote. Doing this made it more than just learning the form of the letter.

I am not a hypocrite. I use social media, I use technology, and am glad I have it to use to communicate with large groups of people, to be able to save important documents for further reference or use, and be able to write and submit my columns to the Post Journal each week, but I still enjoy, and relish, the personal, hand-written communications, be they letters or notes in a birthday or Christmas card, and especially ones written by my grand and great-grandchildren.

My father was employed by the U. S. Post Office for more than a quarter of a century, and he made enough to support and entertain his family. As stated, we send over 100 Christmas Cards each year. I also pay about half of our monthly bills via the USPS. Some question my reason (and my sanity) for doing this, but I do not want us to lose the Postal Service, and I appreciate the living it gave my dad, which he used to raise us for so many years.

Think of how much fun and how special it is receiving a “Thinking of You” note, or a handwritten letter or card from someone special, and then hit Dollar Tree and grab a dozen or so Blank, Birthday, Special Holiday, Thank you, Sympathy, Congratulations, or any other type of card, or just a paper pad and a box of envelopes, to write and send a note which will mean so much to the person to whom you send it. For a few moments as they read it, just as for the few moments it takes for you to read the ones sent to you, it will probably be a little (a lot?) warming to the heart, probably for both, the receiver and the sender too.