by Steve Badertscher
We’ve been immersing ourselves in all the social media that’s fit to print (and even some that isn’t) here at our firm recently. It is truly quite fascinating...especially the speed at which it is churned out. (Read: Twitter.)
It was while researching my three-hundred and thirty-sixth blog, sandwiched between reading several dozen fractured-sentence e-mails, that something quite remarkable occurred – the mail was delivered. No, it wasn’t just the fact that the postal service delivered my daily dose of snail mail...it was what they delivered – a note acknowledging my birthday.
And not just any note, a handwritten note...from my grandma.
It’s not that I didn’t appreciate the birthday “pings” I received via e-mail, the sentiments posted on the wall of my Facebook page, or the store-bought cards from well-wishers who “cared enough to send the very best.” I did. It’s just that there, juxtaposed amidst the cyber high-fives and envelopes with crisply printed mailing labels, was an actual honest-to-goodness handwritten note.
As soon as I saw the mailing address, I recognized the familiar penmanship. Even though it was shaky, it was still an unmistakably classic, nearly century-old cursive writing style that is an art unto itself. As I opened the envelope to read the card, I thought about how much care I knew she put into sealing it just so. And as I read the message, I imagined how painful it must have been, due to her arthritis, for her to write even a few words, much less several paragraphs expressing how much she wanted to wish me a happy birthday in person, but was unable to travel across the miles, and how much I was loved.
As I finished reading her heartfelt sentiments, I couldn’t help but think that they wouldn’t have had quite the emotional impact if she’d have sent me an e-mail. Or for that matter, a card from the 5 and Dime (as she still calls it).
It was seeing her personality in her pen strokes, and knowing that she made the special effort to put her thoughts in her own words, that set that correspondence apart from any other I received that day...or any day since.
It was the power of the handwritten note. A power that is underutilized in today’s business correspondence.
We’ve been immersing ourselves in all the social media that’s fit to print (and even some that isn’t) here at our firm recently. It is truly quite fascinating...especially the speed at which it is churned out. (Read: Twitter.)
It was while researching my three-hundred and thirty-sixth blog, sandwiched between reading several dozen fractured-sentence e-mails, that something quite remarkable occurred – the mail was delivered. No, it wasn’t just the fact that the postal service delivered my daily dose of snail mail...it was what they delivered – a note acknowledging my birthday.
And not just any note, a handwritten note...from my grandma.
It’s not that I didn’t appreciate the birthday “pings” I received via e-mail, the sentiments posted on the wall of my Facebook page, or the store-bought cards from well-wishers who “cared enough to send the very best.” I did. It’s just that there, juxtaposed amidst the cyber high-fives and envelopes with crisply printed mailing labels, was an actual honest-to-goodness handwritten note.
As soon as I saw the mailing address, I recognized the familiar penmanship. Even though it was shaky, it was still an unmistakably classic, nearly century-old cursive writing style that is an art unto itself. As I opened the envelope to read the card, I thought about how much care I knew she put into sealing it just so. And as I read the message, I imagined how painful it must have been, due to her arthritis, for her to write even a few words, much less several paragraphs expressing how much she wanted to wish me a happy birthday in person, but was unable to travel across the miles, and how much I was loved.
As I finished reading her heartfelt sentiments, I couldn’t help but think that they wouldn’t have had quite the emotional impact if she’d have sent me an e-mail. Or for that matter, a card from the 5 and Dime (as she still calls it).
It was seeing her personality in her pen strokes, and knowing that she made the special effort to put her thoughts in her own words, that set that correspondence apart from any other I received that day...or any day since.
It was the power of the handwritten note. A power that is underutilized in today’s business correspondence.
Flickr Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/caitlinator/
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I couldn’t agree with you more! Electronic messages are a convenient way to keep in touch, but they simply can’t replace the treasure of a handwritten note. I have a box full of postcards from my grandparents and weekly letters from my mother when I was in college (before the internet era) that I have stashed away as keepsakes because I realize how rare those handwritten letters are nowadays. Personally, one of my biggest pet peeves is when people send e-mail thank you notes for birthday, baby, or wedding gifts. If I spend the money and take the time to think of you on a special occasion and pick a gift especially for you, the least you can do is take a few extra minutes to sit down and handwrite a few sincere thank you lines.
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