Letter Writing Club

We had a Letter Writing Club at the shop this past week. What fun! It has been a long time since we did one of these. There’s not much to it, just coming and hanging out and writing a few letters. We have some supplies in case you want to try something new, and we mail off your letters for you, if you wrote any. We hope to have more soon, and maybe try a Journal Club as well, one of these upcoming spring nights.

Because it was March Break, the kids were at home, so I’d been spending all my time defending my emergency and secret snack storages from their goblin hands. Thus I was not as organized as I usually am, preparing a little case of supplies and letters and paper. I feel as though my few remaining pen pals have lowered their expectations of me such that it won’t be a problem, so I’m just going to carry on.

Junia managed to trick some random guy into reading to her for the duration of the Letter Writing Club. Just kidding! He’s not random. He is Celina’s partner (Celina who works at the shop and came to the Letter Writing Club just for fun). And now her partner works for Junia. Just kidding! He is not paid. He is more like an indentured servant.

It was a wonderful evening, but also a little chaotic for me, what with children trying to burn the place down, so I didn’t manage to finish any letters. Back at home, hiding away in my office/closet, I finished a few last things up, some finishing touches, a stamp or two here or there.

It was so nice to see and chat with a few familiar faces. To be meeting new pen people and to be chatting about stationery and pens and snail mail habits and life. I sometimes feel like we’re all still recovering from the shock and separation of covid, little green balls still bouncing the rooms and through little door openings, and figuring out how to exist. Actually, I think it’s just me, still rusty and out of practice, while everyone else has managed to recover somewhat, able to carry on a normal conversation like a normal human.

And maybe that’s part of the continued appreciation of snail mail for me, with its low-stakes friendships that build over time and paper into something cherished. Introverts and extroverts alike can take the time to slow down and ponder their thoughts and life’s difficulties and gifts, and write a note short or several pages long, and send off something meaningful into the world. A gift! The gift of a letter, something tangible and personal and of exactly one precise moment in time, in the hand.

Just something to cheer us up, both of us: the sender and the receiver.