Received a lovely note this week from an unexpected source (thanks M) at the end of a brutal day standing in check out line around 9pm. It was a beautiful note that gave me pause and I had pause into which to pour the pause at that precise moment since my shopping accomplice had disappeared off to investigate a video game.

It reminded me how letters used to come and often the reply would begin with detailing what a person was doing when they received your letter. Not uncommonly it would be I was only thinking about you when your letter arrived, or your letter arrived on a day that blah blah. So the moment of landing would be imprinted and returned back to the sender. Also when letters crossed this was detailed. Our letters must have crossed

With email, letters can reach us in every spot we stand practically, there’s little delay or interruption and we are seconds rather than days away from each other as correspondents.  This also means a note can arrive to the precise second that it could be uplifting or comforting to a person and it’s incredible when that occurs unexpectedly and it’s someone you haven’t spoken to for a long while.