Passing Notes

This whole blogging, Facebook, Twitter, Skype and SMS thing has got me thinking.

My friends and I passed a lot of notes to each other in high school.

A LOT of notes.

We had a lot to talk about. Boys mostly. That could fill pages.

And other things. Not many other things, though, come to think of it. Didn't all of life revolve around something that, in the end, got back to boys?

The point is: all these communication tools tell me that people still really like to stay in close contact.

It's interesting to me that my sons who are (almost) 19 and 21 have become big fans of handwritten letters. In their circle of very wired friends, the time it takes to actually write a letter and mail it is a gesture worth quite a bit. The handwritten notes are uniquely expressive and carry with them a value that cyber mail cannot duplicate.

I've produced hundreds (probably thousands) of handwritten letters in my life and received the same in return. I treasure the letters my sister and I wrote to each other during my first 15 years in Africa. I find it a bit sad that we only have email now.

I know that notes, cyber or paper, can't replace real time and I can't see there ever being a substitute for a coffee date, a shared tea or a walk together.

But since my life has carried me far away from quite a lot of people (scattered all over) that I love, I'm thankful that there are clever little ways to continue passing notes.