The best gift anyone can give me is a handwritten card. I have cherished a collection of all the cards people have given me since high school. I always wrote cards for teachers on teacher appreciation day and at the end of the year. I decided to write and mail letters to all my friends one day during quarantine, taping little pictures and decorations on them like a scrapbook. One of my most treasured possessions is a letter my sister wrote me before I left for college.
I’ll admit to feeling a slight pang of disappointment on my birthday when I open gifts to find no card or one with a sentence of writing. Growing up, my mom always reminded me before signing my friend’s birthday cards to “write more than just happy birthday.” Now, whenever I pen a card, I hear her voice in my mind. Maybe it’s the English major in me or the fact that my five love language quiz results tell me my love language is words of affirmation, but there’s always been a special place in my heart for handwritten displays of affection.
I think as technology eradicates the necessity for handwritten assignments in the classroom, and the concept of materialism becomes increasingly prevalent, people give less and less thought to the consideration of writing notes, letters, and cards. It may appear as an insignificant difference in the contemporary world, but I think we as a society are losing a valuable way to express our feelings. Maybe some people are uncomfortable with the idea of writing their feelings in cards or don’t know what to say, but I think we can all benefit from these small acts of endearing communication.
Something about the permanency and authenticity of handwritten notes grants them incomparable value—a kind that I don’t think can be achieved through any other mechanism of expression to the same extent. Heartfelt notes, letters, and cards are something I can keep and return to whenever I please. And with each read, the graceful curves and distinctive slants of someone’s penmanship etch an indelible mark on my heart as they did on the paper.