Letter
Back in the dark ages (early 1990s), I used to exchange letters with friends--school friends during the summers and camp friends during the school year. This weekend, Dave and I went up to visit my parents, and one of the things we did was clean out my closet. I found a few boxes of old letters and notes passed during classes, which provided a good hour of amusement for me once we were done with the cleaning. I was most amused, by the following excerpt from a letter from my friend Jason, dated July 7th, 1994:
"Oh one more thing. In the already yellowed paper (that's how long it's been since we last talked) of your letter, you asked me if I have Prodigy. I'm sorry to break the news but we have AOL (America On Line) instead. However I believe there is a way we can talk. I just haven't found it yet."
I about fell over laughing at that. Ah, the early days of internet.....at that time, pretty much everything I am using to create this post had barely been conceived of, didn't exist, or if it did exist, it was far out of the reach of the average consumer. However, I have to admit, as much as I love the internet we have now, going through old emails doesn't provide quite the same tactile pleasure or rush of nostalgia that opening these old letters did, each one distinctive in handwriting and address and style, with artwork adorning the envelopes and letters. Each letter reminded me vividly of people and events I haven't thought of in a decade or more. I'm so glad I saved them.