Why don't people write letters anymore?

 

Why doesn’t anyone write letters anymore?

Wednesday

May 6, 2026

I’ve always loved writing letters.   My maternal grandmother wrote to me almost every day.   I had a huge pile of her letters and I remember her handwriting well.   Unfortunately, at some point in the 30 years since she died, I have lost them.   I’ve torn the house apart looking for them, just to hold them and reread and hear her words.   I cannot find them anywhere.   I have found a couple of her letters and they are carefully guarded now because they are so precious.

I write the grandkids (5 of them) who live all the way across the country at least once a week.   I’m sharing family stories with the oldest and I make cute cards for the youngest ones.   The two middle girls get medium sized letters, stickers, and bookmarks.   How many of them have written me back?   ZERO.   NONE.   Not a single one.

Writing on a piece of paper with a pen in hand is different than email.   I think it is more personal.   You have to THINK before you put your words to paper.   Now, I can type (or I used to be able to type)…100 words a minute.   I’m fast.   I owe it to all my years at the piano, enabling me to have nimble fingers.   But, I LOVE to write out letters.   I have all kinds of papers and pens.   I even have fountain pens, which I adore!  For me, writing isn’t a chore.   It’s a delight.

I joined an online group of folks around the world who share postcards and I went out the bought many different postcards, but I never really made any connections with any of those people.   There was one gal in Portugal who was teaching English to her students and we did write back and forth for a while, but then we stopped.   It seems like people always STOP.   Do they not have time?   Don’t they want to communicate with another human?   I don’t get it.  I realize some people are verbal and don’t care for writing skills, but I get such pleasure out of it I can’t imagine that others wouldn’t.   Maybe I’m wrong.   I guess I am wrong.   Our culture, our society, our country is too damn busy with the latest headline, the latest Tweet or Truth Social post, that we’ve lost connection to one another.   And, that’s too bad.  It’s sad.   It’s a complete breakdown.   I hope we survive it.

 

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