Tues Ten 031610: Handwriting Samples

I found some old letters recently. They were sent from old friends, from my mother and a few from my grandmother. Reading them again was an emotional experience. It took me back to other times in my life, and helped me relive experiences, remember the impact of people, and benefit again from encouraging words.

I’ve been thinking about letters recently, perhaps spurred by one of the selections in my recent Tuesday Ten list of books I’d enjoy re-reading. The book, A Woman of Independent Means, is a story told entirely in the form of personal letters. Although fictional, the power of the letters as they reflect the life of the heroine was unmistakable.

In particular, I’ve been thinking about the handwriting found in letters, and the specific moments in time they often describe or commemorate. In this increasingly digital age, the physical act of writing is in danger of becoming a lost art. I think I have maybe penned two or three actual letters in the last 12 months, providing much frustration to the readers in deciphering my handwriting. But, it is MY handwriting. I find that these days I sign, date or initial many documents. I record phone messages or grocery lists. But, most of my “written” words are actually typed. I often type my brainstorming lists. I’ve even been typing almost all my journal entries for the last year.

While the typing may be a faster way for me to record ideas, something is definitely lost in the process. There is a very tangible quality to the process of scrawling words on a piece of paper — a quality that just isn’t matched by pecking on a keyboard. Perhaps the quality comes from the fact that it DOES require slowing down to form the letters. It DOES give the mind a chance to compose thoughts more carefully. Beyond that, words on a page–letters–can be held in the hands. They can be stored away for later reading. They can be tacked to a bulletin board as a reminder. They can be hung in celebration of a new skill. They have their own presence.

It strikes me that to know a person’s handwriting is an intimate thing. There are countless friends and acquaintances in my life from whom I’ve never seen an actual written word. We’ve corresponded, to be sure, through email or Facebook or even on the telephone. But, I’ve never seen their handwriting. I’ve never seen how they sign their own names, how they form their capital letters, whether they use strictly cursive or print or some combination of the two, whether there is a slant to their written views or how they scratch through an error in their thinking. The handwritten understanding of a person can be a rare privilege. Experiences or sentiments recorded by hand offer a glimpse of specific situations, of larger contexts, of unnamed impressions. When I see my Grandmother’s handwriting again, I can sense the quiver in her fingers that made her writing slower as she aged. When I see my Mom’s handwriting, I can remember its carefully formed letters on the many hand-written tests she gave (and graded) during my growing up years. To this day, it is the handwriting of an elementary Language Arts teacher. When I see the handwriting of old friends, I recognize how it (and they) have changed over the years. I’m just now beginning to see the carefully formed alphabets of Little Drummer Boy and Bug as they learn how to write.

In celebration of the powerful act of physical writing, I give you this week’s Tuesday Ten: Handwriting Samples from the letters that have impacted me recently. No, I’m not offering the actual written shapes, but snippets of the letters and words shared. And like the cues experts glean from actual handwriting, these samples offer me some welcomed glimpses and reminders of the hearts of the people that wrote them. Some probably need further explanation. Some are just descriptions of a time or experience that warranted a written record at the time. I’ll let you use your imagination and enjoy.

1. “Dinosaur”
Little Drummer Boy presented me with this specimen of his preschool activities, complete with a picture of a brontosaurus and the typical guidelines found on writing worksheets. He copied the dotted lines to form the letters two times and then branched out on his own as instructed. The process broke down a bit through the “au” section, but wow! One of his first forays into letters not found in his name.

2. “Sometimes the top of a ladder seems a long way off, but you get there only one step at a time. So ‘hang your ladder to a star’ and climb. With all our love.”
One of the off-to-college letters I was privileged to receive from my Grandmother & Granddaddy.

3. “Bravo”
A congratulatory note from the Queen of my day job after the launch of some project. I can’t even remember the project, only that the impromptu tabletent was sitting on my desk when I arrived in the morning.

4. “C, E, T, I”
To my surprise, Bug formed these letters with his finger on a handy Leapfrog writing board we have. Toward the end of the process in a my-brother-is-my-best-friend moment, Little Drummer Boy showed him how to turn a capital “T” into a capital “I.” New knowledge is born.

5. “I spent the morning setting up questions to discuss: ‘If it’s cold outside and you could choose between sleeping with lots of blankets to stay warm or an electric blanket, which one would you choose, and why not the other.’ You know, typical existential questions.”
This description of a friend’s teaching preparations is a reminder that being witness to the passions of another can be a great pleasure.

6. “Dusty sends his love”
This epilogue was found in Mama’s letter to camp when I was 11 years old. It was accompanied by Dusty’s Cocker Spaniel “paw signature” accomplished with an ink pad and much patience, I’m sure–evidence of a Mother’s love, creativity and attention to detail.

7. “He will keep your soul.”
This little word of encouragement came as the fruit of an unidentified “Secret Service” communique. I suspect it was the doing of a group of high school girls with whom I had the privilege of enjoying each week in a Bible study. But, I’ll never know for sure.

8. “This check is small but maybe enough for a ‘burger & fries.’ So good to hear from you my love. P.S. I think Mama & Daddy are missing you.”
My grandmother always knew the value a college student would place on a good burger and fries. And I’m sure she was right about Mama and Daddy.

9. “We walked all afternoon through some of the most breathtaking — it took my breath away — countryside. The views were magnificent. The wild flowers were abundant and created a colorful carpet on the lush green of the grasses and ground covers. The terrain was, at times, formidable. The hills weren’t difficult, but it was no easy endeavor climbing them. I guess because the air was so pure.”
A description of a place I’ll likely never see can be almost like being there–at least like being in the mind of a friend who’s there. And that place is extraordinary.

10. “You have now embarked on perhaps the most rewarding journey of a woman’s life — that of motherhood. As you have already discovered, it is a wonderful, yet awesome responsibility & as we have already observed, you are a great mother.”
My mother wrote this to me in a letter for Little Drummer Boy’s first Christmas. The approving statement of someone you admire is powerful and worth remembering.

Please share with me your memorable handwriting samples…