Dear Wigleaf,

How are you? I am fine.

This is how I was taught in school to begin a personal letter, whether I was fine or not. I was also taught to sign off with "Sincerely." I did as I was taught when writing to my grandparents. Recently, I saw some of my cards and letters to them, and they read as if a Martian wrote themŃsomeone unfamiliar with how humans communicated, who perhaps learned from an outdated textbook.

But my letter-writing improved, and I've had many pen pals over the years, a few of whom still exchange letters and postcards with me. Here's something my friend Doug once wrote to me:

I meant to send you a mailbox-warmer sooner. I love the surprise of a letter lurking in the mailbox, amongst so much junk mail. To select a postcard or just sit down and write to a friend, it is a communion between two people, a thoughtful, sentimental and sweet interval that differs from the often hasty and perfunctorily brief but efficient bursts of keyboard. It is a physical pleasure to guide a good pen across the paper, wielding a graphic system that represents the sound of language. I still think it's neat to be able to stuff some things in an envelope and loft it all the way across the country! Only 55˘!

Doug died in 2021. My mailbox feels all the colder.

KAP