Please, Mr. Postman

Throughout history, letters have been the chief means of communicating for everyone from family members to heads of state.

Perhaps the most famous American letter is one dated Nov. 25, 1864. President Abraham Lincoln wrote the letter to a Mrs. Bixby, who had lost five sons in the Civil War. The letter is eloquent and compassionate, but sadly, it is also famous because of the debate over whether the president actually wrote the letter.

My son wrote some of my favorite letters while he served in the military. He was a skinny 18-year-old, fresh out of high school, when he left home to serve in the Infantry. To say the least, his father and I were uneasy about his choice. This was before the advent of email and cellphones, and we were glad he wrote weekly letters, even if we weren’t always comforted by what he said.

Recently, I gave the collection of letters back to him, and the family gathered in the living room to listen as he read through some of them. The letters were postmarked from Georgia, Hawaii, Japan, Australia and Panama. (He had quite an education in the two years after high school.) It was moving to hear him read of his trials, adventures, and successes. His three sons sat listening quietly, taking in what his life was like back then, what he was like. Listening to him read the letters so many years later felt like a sacred family moment.

I have a drawer full of keepsake letters that are just some of the hundreds delivered by the postal service. Letters from my husband who often was away from home for weeks at a time. Letters from my three sisters, now gone, that offer a window into their daily lives. A letter from my mother outlined my father’s grave health concerns, perhaps the first hint that she had begun to see me as an adult instead of the eternal baby of the family. Letters from nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, good friends and even famous people.

Erma Bombeck responded to a fan letter I wrote her in 1980. The note had the same humor that graced her columns. After I wrote a thank you letter to Apollo 15 astronaut James Irwin, he wrote a very nice letter back. He had spoken in Bismarck and I had arranged for Scout Troop 11 to attend.

Today, most of my correspondence is online. I receive messages from friends that are funny, frustrated or fostering, and I suppose every word is recorded somewhere, but who will ever access any of it?

Fortunately, the most famous letters of all time are gathered in the bestselling book of all time. There are 21 letters in the Bible, written by the apostles to believers throughout the Mediterranean region. Some of those biblical letters offer encouragement. In I John 4: 11, John urges us, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

Some of the New Testament letters chastise the church. Saint Paul was good at getting down to the nitty gritty, such as when he wrote, “Do not deceive yourselves…For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.” Paul also offered practical advice, such as telling his Timothy, his son in the Lord, to take a little wine for his stomach.

More recently, in the last century, there was a hit song called Please Mr. Postman made famous by the Marveletts and, later, the Carpenters. The last verse says, “Mister Postman, Mister Postman look and see, If there’s a letter in your bag for me. Please, please, Mr. Postman, Why’s it takin’ such a long time, Why don’t you check it and see one more time for me, C’mon deliver the letter, the sooner, the better.”

This month we celebrate Valentine’s Day. What a great time to send a card or letter to a friend or loved one who doesn’t text or email. Make it an “I’m thinking of you” letter, with personal thoughts. Real paper and a postage stamp might just make someone’s day.

“You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ironically, after this post was written, I received a card in the mail from a friend. How’s that for timing? It included a hand-written note congratulating me on signing a contract for my next book. So, here is the inside scoop: my historical novel, based on a true story that was hidden for almost a century, is in the publication process. Many years went into this book and I am more than excited to see it published. And don’t worry, the sequel to By the Banks of Cottonwood Creek is well underway, but will come out after the historical novel.