When all mail was snail mail

Larry at Out of the Blue writes about some cards and letters he found in an old cigar box he bought at an auction.

It made me think about all the letters I have written in my life, where they might be right now, and who may read them some day in the future.

WARNING - WIWYA (When I Was Your Age) Moment

Back when I was in school there was no such thing as email, no Internet, no personal computers. When we wrote letters it was in the format of what is now called "snail mail"...pen on paper, placed in an envelope, delivery paid for by a stamp that you had to lick (pre-pre-glued).

My geographically widespread circle of friends wrote a lot of letters to each other in those days. My Dad's advice was to be careful about what I put on paper, because it lasts and you never know who will read it someday.

Today I do most of my communicating by email. Emails are written, sent, read and eventually deleted. Their existence ends, electrons or bits or whatever once held together to form words now scattered in cyberspace.

Not all technological advances are 100% good.