I just threw out my birthday cards. Do you save them ? What about letters, do you save them ? I used to hold onto them when I was in the Navy. They have all been thrown out now. I can't see where they would be of interest to anyone else. I'm thinking that only occurs when a person becomes famous. If you gain fame, I mean real fame, then every scrap of paper you ever wrote on becomes valuable. Just your signature can be worth hundreds of dollars. I don't think anything of mine will ever be worth much more than sentiment. Even sentiment is in question as far as I can tell. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not complaining just speculating about the truth of the situation. Now I do think after several generations have passed that may change just a bit. I have a postcard that my grandmother wrote to her father. I value that highly for the sentiment it expresses. She wrote, " Dear Papa " and that she loved him. It is the only example of her writing that I have and as far as I know the only example of her handwriting in existence today. Is it valuable ? Only to me I suppose. It is possible that future generations will value it as much as I do however. The question is will it survive ? I certainly hope so.
I have an online friend that wrote a whole book incorporating old letters. It was entitled " A gift from the attic " and if you haven't read it I highly recommend you do so. Those letters are indeed a treasure trove. Those letters were packed away and saved. It is obvious that the person receiving them treasured them. I believe it is a wonderful thing that they were saved and then published for others to enjoy. That being said I don't think old birthday cards would be of much interest. The same thinking applies to holiday cards. I know it was a custom, for a little while anyway, to write those Holiday letters, a summary of your year. Those would be worth holding onto I'm sure. The information they contain would have to be valuable to later generations. My wife's Aunt Grace did that a few years. I have no idea were those letters are today. I did receive them back before I took an interest in all this stuff. You know, back in the day when I felt I would live forever. That's how most of us feel when we are young, we have all the time in the world. We just don't realize how small that world really is. Now Aunt Grace has left us and there will be no more Holiday letters.
It is true that folks just don't write letters like they used to. I never had one but pen pals were a popular thing at one time for grade school children. I expect they just do that on the internet nowadays or snapchat, whatever the kids are using now. Facebook, I am told, is for old people. I fit that description and so that is where you will find me. I do have a very good friend that has resisted the use of computers and the internet. It is from him that I get a card with a " note " inside. What I mean is he will write more than the salutation and good wishes followed by a signature. He has even been known to write an occasional letter. I have received e-cards in the past. What do you think of that ? I appreciate the thought but it does seem like cheating in a way. Then I dismiss that with, it is the thought that counts. Do you believe that ? Is it solely the thought that counts ? Or does some time and effort have to be expended to be valued ? Does throwing out those cards and letters mean that they were not valued in the first place ? Seems as though you should hold onto things you value. I'm just holding onto the thought ! Is that a cop out ? Hmm, I'll have to think about that.
I have a wooden chest that I call the archives where I store my treasures. In that box are old photographs, old papers and stuff like that. I guess you could call it a history chest. It does contain a great deal of that. Sometimes I think about organizing that stuff. I really should at least label and explain what some of that stuff is. I would be the last to know in some instances. My life in a box ! It is kinda sad to think about it in that way. To have my existence reduced to the confines of an old wooden shipping crate ? That is what that box was, a shipping crate for " torpedo's. " Those torpedo's aren't what you think. Unless you are a railroad buff you probably wouldn't know this. A " torpedo " in this context is an small explosive device placed on a railroad track. When the train runs over it, it explodes telling the engineer of danger ahead or some other condition making him stop the train ! Really it just makes a big bang, like a giant cap. The wooden box that I have was the shipping container for that. I got it when I worked at the factory that produced them. See, a bit of history just in the box ! A small piece of my history. Still, it is a little unsettling to think I can reduce my history to fit in a box. Well maybe that box will be carried forth into future generations. It would seem less likely to be discarded, like a card or letter might. Maybe I will work on that after all. It could be an interesting project although it does strike me as a bit " morbid. " What do you think ?
I have an online friend that wrote a whole book incorporating old letters. It was entitled " A gift from the attic " and if you haven't read it I highly recommend you do so. Those letters are indeed a treasure trove. Those letters were packed away and saved. It is obvious that the person receiving them treasured them. I believe it is a wonderful thing that they were saved and then published for others to enjoy. That being said I don't think old birthday cards would be of much interest. The same thinking applies to holiday cards. I know it was a custom, for a little while anyway, to write those Holiday letters, a summary of your year. Those would be worth holding onto I'm sure. The information they contain would have to be valuable to later generations. My wife's Aunt Grace did that a few years. I have no idea were those letters are today. I did receive them back before I took an interest in all this stuff. You know, back in the day when I felt I would live forever. That's how most of us feel when we are young, we have all the time in the world. We just don't realize how small that world really is. Now Aunt Grace has left us and there will be no more Holiday letters.
It is true that folks just don't write letters like they used to. I never had one but pen pals were a popular thing at one time for grade school children. I expect they just do that on the internet nowadays or snapchat, whatever the kids are using now. Facebook, I am told, is for old people. I fit that description and so that is where you will find me. I do have a very good friend that has resisted the use of computers and the internet. It is from him that I get a card with a " note " inside. What I mean is he will write more than the salutation and good wishes followed by a signature. He has even been known to write an occasional letter. I have received e-cards in the past. What do you think of that ? I appreciate the thought but it does seem like cheating in a way. Then I dismiss that with, it is the thought that counts. Do you believe that ? Is it solely the thought that counts ? Or does some time and effort have to be expended to be valued ? Does throwing out those cards and letters mean that they were not valued in the first place ? Seems as though you should hold onto things you value. I'm just holding onto the thought ! Is that a cop out ? Hmm, I'll have to think about that.
I have a wooden chest that I call the archives where I store my treasures. In that box are old photographs, old papers and stuff like that. I guess you could call it a history chest. It does contain a great deal of that. Sometimes I think about organizing that stuff. I really should at least label and explain what some of that stuff is. I would be the last to know in some instances. My life in a box ! It is kinda sad to think about it in that way. To have my existence reduced to the confines of an old wooden shipping crate ? That is what that box was, a shipping crate for " torpedo's. " Those torpedo's aren't what you think. Unless you are a railroad buff you probably wouldn't know this. A " torpedo " in this context is an small explosive device placed on a railroad track. When the train runs over it, it explodes telling the engineer of danger ahead or some other condition making him stop the train ! Really it just makes a big bang, like a giant cap. The wooden box that I have was the shipping container for that. I got it when I worked at the factory that produced them. See, a bit of history just in the box ! A small piece of my history. Still, it is a little unsettling to think I can reduce my history to fit in a box. Well maybe that box will be carried forth into future generations. It would seem less likely to be discarded, like a card or letter might. Maybe I will work on that after all. It could be an interesting project although it does strike me as a bit " morbid. " What do you think ?
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