M.F.K. Fisher wrote letters. Lots and lots of letters. Sometimes four or five a day. Because she was such a prolific letter writer she got lots of mail in return. Often these letters aren't very exciting. They detail the weather, the mood of the writer, inconsequential daily happenings. But some of the letters are windows into friendships, love affairs, and adventures.
M.F.K. Fisher received one letter, from her husband at the time, that ended with I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
This went on, single spaced declarations of love, for twenty-nine lines.
Sitting in the library at Harvard I began to think about how we communicate and what future biographers might mine for information. Will they use e-mails? Blog posts? Twitter musings? It is going to be a whole different writing game, and I imagine much of the most important details in our lives may be lost if everything we hold dear is stored on a computer that might or might not explode, or be stolen or lost.
So -- write a letter. Write lots of letters, especially to the people you care about. Remember how nice it is to get a letter? We should all send them more, and if you get a special letter, one that makes you glow, save it. You never know who might find it interesting some day.
3 comments:
Sounds like your trip was great. I love H&H bagels and have had them in NY. Also love Boston - but food there is expensive and not that fresh. You're lucky to be living in SF now.
you have no idea how many of your letters and cards i have saved. i love how you take the time to write the words that are funny, sweet, kind and silly. xo
The letters of writers, though filled with the mundane as well, contain rare gems. Having had the pleasure and privilege of reading the correspondence of some of my most beloved authors, I know the joy of that discovery; the line that never lived beyond the letter, that was in and of itself a thing of grace and beauty. I'll try to remind myself of that more often.
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