Writing letters is a lost art these days

Growing up with technology, I never really wrote letters to people because I could just send a text or make a phone call instead. Well that all changes when you have a loved one at basic training and writing a letter is the only form of communication you have.

Even though it has been difficult to not talk to your person every day, I have gotten into a routine with writing letters and I have grown to love it. That must be the journalist side of me.

Also considering that I had never really been into sending mail before, I also now know where the majority of mailboxes are in Cheney because I wanted to make sure I sent something out every day. I also found out fast the expense of stamps can add up.

I have also learned throughout this process that receiving letters is even more exciting than writing them. Throughout these last seven weeks, I have usually checked the mail multiple times a day to see if I have received anything. So even though checking your mailbox seems like a simple task to most people, it now has a whole different meaning to me.

Before having only the U.S. Postal Service as my way of communication, I couldn’t think of the last time I had just sat down and wrote on a piece of paper to send out to somebody. I mean I would send out the occasional greeting or birthday card, but nothing as straightforward as just my writing that started out on a blank paper.

Writing letters seems to be a lost art these days due to all our emailing and texting. I am guilty of it as well. But I have grown an appreciation for the “old school” way of communicating, even though I also look forward to going back to being a “normal person” and just texting or calling.

This journey of having somebody at Air Force basic training has also made me realize how much people really give up to serve our country.

The men and women that go out there to train for over eight weeks without communication with their families face a tough task, especially in this day and age where you can be connected at all times with your smartphones. But it gets even worse when they go out to fight a war or are deployed. Not only should the people serving in the military get appreciation, but their families left behind should as well.

I have grown up in a military family, so I have always had an appreciation for the military. But back when my Dad joined and was shipped off to basic, I was only four years old and I don’t really remember it. But we have also been fortunate to only have him deployed a couple times and to only move twice is pretty unheard of.

So even though I had never really written a letter before having somebody go to basic training, I hope that I won’t go another 21 years before writing another one. And I encourage everyone else to just sit down and take some time out of your busy day to write somebody a letter. You might end up actually enjoying it.

My person will be graduating basic training next week, so that means I won’t have to write as many letters. I have appreciated improving my penmanship and writing correspondence throughout this journey though. But I will admit it, I am looking forward to becoming a normal young adult again and just texting or calling them instead.

Grace Pohl can be reached at [email protected].