#3 Write and post a proper handwritten letter.
I can't remember the last time I wrote a real letter. It must be more than five years since I last had an incarcerated teenager to correspond with and far longer since I have had to pen a thank you note to an elderly relative.
We have so many more efficient ways to communicate now, so our daily mail consists only of flyers, menus and bills - all typed, all mass-produced. However there is still something special about seeing a proper, handwritten letter on the doormat. They are things that we read and reread, that we treasure. Perhaps we value them because we know that the writer touched the paper, that their pen literally worked its way across the page we are holding, which makes the words more personal and intimate. They are meant just for us and won't have been copied, pasted and sent to a dozen other people. Maybe too, we appreciate the time and effort that the writer took: to write the letter, address and seal the envelope, find a stamp and walk to a post box. They gave us a gift of their time which is so rare these days.
It is with these things in mind that I added this challenge to my list, but the occasion to write was unexpected. I found out a few days ago that a man I have known for twelve years died suddenly and unexpectedly. He was not a friend or relative, in fact I only knew him as a tradesman who had carried out various jobs for me over the years, but I liked him a lot. He was patient and friendly, he never made me feel stupid when I called him in to do little jobs which I probably should have learned how to do myself. He had met my foster sons, my lodgers, my pets - and he was warm and friendly to them all.
If this was a normal year I would have paid my respects at his funeral, along with many more of his customers, but this year is far from normal. Then a friend suggested that I write to his wife; that it might be comforting to her to know that this man, who was special to her, also meant something to a stranger she hasn't met. I hope so.
Rest in peace Dave, you were a kind, genuine and lovely man.
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