Dear Next Generation: The Preciousness of Old Letters

“There is something very precious about reading old letters, it’s like sitting down and talking with [family members and friends] once again,” writes reader Martha Beeghly. Biba Kayewich

Your recent article “Missed Opportunities” caused me to think of something I’ve always wanted to share with my children, grandchildren, and friends for some time now. And that is the lost art of letter writing.

When I was growing up in the ‘40s and ’50s, I received and wrote to my dad (in the service), my grandmother who lived miles away, and family and friends. I met my husband while he was just leaving the Navy and we began exchanging letters. Then I went to nursing school and he started college and we began a year-long exchange, corresponding nearly daily. Through the years, my “letter list” grew, to my mother and brothers in Florida and several more family and friends.