I just read the book, The Wednesday Letters, a novel by Jason F. Wright loaned to me by a very good friend, so I was inspired to write again. When greeted out in public, I am frequently asked, “When are you going to write another story?” The art of writing is slowly fading away especially that of letter writing.

When was the last time you received a hand written letter, not an instant message, not a text message that takes up two replies because you ran out of characters but a real hand written letter?

I can remember as a child I had a pen pal from Spain and I so looked forward to receiving the letters. They came in a special envelope that had red and white edges with special stamps. The turnaround time from when I sent one until I got one back was about six weeks. That was a long time for a child of my age.

I even encouraged my own daughter in pen pal writing but due to lack of attention and instant gratification, the pen pal writing didn’t last long.

Maybe some of you can remember those love letters from a boyfriend or spouse serving in the military and what it was like waiting on the mail boy each day. Or just a simple goodbye wish from your spouse who was leaving for a few days on a trip.

Sure we get birthday cards, get well cards, and even thank you cards, but you miss the crinkled paper and the penmanship of that long letter written on special paper.

As my children have been to 4-H camp for the last several years they get the most mail there, all my family write to them about day to day activities to keep them from getting homesick.

The art of letter writing is soon to be forgotten. I was inspired to begin my own Wednesday letter (only I wrote mine on Monday, and not sure how long I will stay committed to writing each week), but I vow to pick out the good things people do and not focus on what they don’t do and get back into the art of letter writing.

I challenge each of you to do the same and if we succeed, maybe our children or grandchildren will write a book about us or publish all our letters. Happy Writing!

Tammy Waid McClellan