Where Have All Handwritten Notes Gone?

Where have all the handwritten notes gone, long time passing?

Where have all the handwritten notes gone, long time ago?

Where have all the notes gone?

Young girls and boys have not written them one by one.

Oh, when will they ever learn?

Oh, when will they ever learn?

Poetic license taken from Where Have All the Flowers Gone 
written by Pete Seeger and sung by Peter, Paul and Mary

The Lost Art of the Handwritten Note, an article in The Wall Street Journal, reported in a 2012 British survey that two out of three people said that the last thing they wrote was for their eyes only—a hastily scribbled note, a shopping list or a reminder.

Think about the number of handwritten cards that you have penned recently. How many have you received? Probably fewer than in years past.

When you see the handwriting of a loved one does your heart flutter just a little? If you are like me, it feels special to think that someone took the time to write something in their own handwriting and mail it to me. I have kept notes and letters from my courtship with my husband.

The loss of the handwritten note is an unfortunate trend. Handwriting can be difficult to read, but there will always be someone who recognizes even the worst of handwritings and treasures it because of who wrote it.

My husband has a letter that he wrote many years ago to his parents tattling on his older brother, “He shot me with a rubber band when the war was off!”

Today’s gift was to handwrite a note to a friend who is having a difficult time. May we all write more handwritten notes so future generations won’t ask, “Where have all the handwritten notes gone.”

In Giving and Handwriting,

Robin

Walking Down Memory Lane

Remember . . .

• Field trips when you were a kid?
• The permission slip for your parents to sign that either was sopping wet from the rain or crumpled in a little ball inside your book bag?
• The anticipation of bumping along on a school bus in the middle of the day?
• Getting to legitimately skip the dreaded history class?
• The kids with a pouty lip who didn’t get their permission slip signed and had to stay at school?
• Holding hands in the back of the bus with your best friend?
• The Tootsie Pop they gave you for touring?
• The kid who always got carsick on the bus?
• The tour that was sometimes boring and other times exciting?
• Saying that a bad field trip was better than a good day at school?
• Getting to wear pants all day in school and not the required dresses?
• Bragging to your brothers and sisters that you didn’t have to go to school today and they did—na, nana, nana?
• Incessantly telling your parents about what you did and saw?

For today’s gift, I learned about two nonprofits while reliving the field trip experience. I toured the Gospel Mission this morning and was impressed with the orderliness and cleanliness of the facilities. They served 260 people dinner last night, which is many more people in need than usual.

The other nonprofit, CARES, had a luncheon banquet for donors. Their mission is to help abused children and kids who have witnessed a violent crime. A former resident of the organization inspired us all as she spoke of how CARES helped her become who she is today.

For some, walking down memory lane is more enjoyable than it is for other people. I visited two non-profit organizations today that serve those who have had (and do have) a hard go of it. I will remember these folks and continue to support them so that their memory lane will be more like the field trips I remember so fondly.

In Giving,

Robin

Laughing at Yourself

In honor of Animation Day I drew a cartoon of something that happened to a friend of mine.

Today’s gift was to provide the person with a laugh by giving them the cartoon drawing.

In Giving,

Robin