Hi there!

If you are a frequent reader of my infrequent blogs, you will remember that the last time I blogged I wrote about the fragments of a balloon and attached note that I found on my street a couple of weeks ago.  The note was from an elementary student named Clay in Frankfort, Kentucky!  He had released his balloon on November 11^th  and I found it on November 30.

Well, today, exactly one month after his balloon began its flight and landed on my street, I had a response from Clay Estes, the young man who had released the balloon!  And, I promised to let you know when I heard back from my letter to Clay.  So, now you will know the rest of the story.

I was so excited when I went to the mailbox and among all the usual advertisements, Christmas cards, etc., there was a letter from Clay!  The handwriting was perfect and the message sweet.  I was so happy and could hardly wait to open the letter.  It was so thoughtful of him to write me back and I appreciated hearing from my newest friend.  The letter was neatly printed on the cutest ever hand-painted stationery!  As you can see from the picture of the letter, Clay is a fine young man, six years of age, and composed a very thoughtful letter.

The only thing better than hearing from Clay would be getting to meet him in person some day.  Who knows, that just might happen one of these days! 

Thank you, Clay.  It is reassuring to know that some young people are still being encouraged and taught the importance and the art of a handwritten letter.  In all of our technical abilities to communicate via the web (as I am very guilty of doing), by telephone, e-mails, Facebook, Twitter – you name it – may we never lose sight of the beauty of a handwritten letter or note that you can hold in your hand, that you can read as many times as you desire.  For instance, we still cherish letters that Bill’s dad wrote to Bill’s mother when he was serving in WWII in Europe, and yes, we also cherish our love letters to each other!  Just the other day, we came across letters that Art and Andy had written to my mother who died in 1973.  You cannot place a value on these treasures. These beautiful memories preserve the past and are not dependent on the digital media that sometimes lets us down when there is a failure for some reason or another.  More times than not, as someone has said, we seldom read our electronic communications more than once.  Often, we quickly move on to the next quick fix.

So, grab your pen and paper and write someone; perhaps that long overdue thank you, or a word of encouragement, or a note saying I love you and I am proud of you.

Thank you, Clay, for reminding us of the importance of a well-written letter!