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Roy Burkhead, MFA's avatar

Richard: What a moving, wonderful nod to a time that may one day be gone, but one that has not yet left. And perhaps this piece could one day be a CNF book by Richard Goodman! :-)

I remember the moment email arrived. I had an active mail correspondence with probably over 25 people across the country and even in a couple of countries. We would communicate via stamps that you had to lick...maybe twice a month. But when we communicated, we communicated. And the holiday cards of all kinds and occasions.

Then, email arrived. And one by one, people "transitioned" online. Instead of thoughtful letters, I received daily emails that basically said nothing, the forwarding of jokes that were not even funny.

I have stayed in constant touch via stamps with two people whop actively write back: my high school English and French teacher AND an old friend...someone who has been a friend since we were 13.

I've used the pandemic to try and revive the tradition with some family members. They always email or text to say thanks for the letter. ugh. Anyway, there's a novel there...someplace. ;-)

Write on, my friend.

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olivier's avatar

Beautiful piece, Richard. I love letters as well and have been holding on to boxes and boxes of them. They are the only reason why I have never given up using my fountain pen.

I spotted your heroic Ford focus in the background!

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