Before emails became a trend...

I know what you are thinking. "Emails? Who uses email these days? We IM and text now." Well if you were born in the late 1990s or the early 2000s, you probably don't even understand why people use emails other than signing up for different online accounts. Emails were really convenient since it saves postage payment when sending letters. However, I'm not talking about emails right now. I want to focus on what comes before emails: letters.

This is a funny story for me. I had an email account when I was in elementary school. However, my friends and I would still mail each other instead. We would write out stories, personalize the letter here and there, and make sure our penmanship is readable so the postman can read the address. Sometimes we had Hello Kitty themed papers. Other times we have it plain but decorated by ourselves. So much effort was put into writing each letter, it seems each one received is like a treasure. Just waiting for the mail to see if one is meant for you was an exciting moment.

Postcards and letters are very cute but it means little to a child who sees her friends everyday in school. How does receiving letters end up so emotional? There was a time when my family stayed in the United States for a long period (about 3 months). I was away from my friends in what seems like forever. One day, I received a letter I never expected. It was from my best friend! I left her my address in case she wanted to contact and she actually mailed me a letter. Now picture a eight-year-old girl's receiving a long letter from her best friend whom she didn't meet for a long time. I was filled with so much joy (and probably jumping all over the place) that I wrote a reply letter and convinced my mom to mail it. I don't really remember what was written on that letter. However, to this day, I still remember every emotion I went through when receiving it. It seems worth more than any email (or even text) I had ever gotten in my entire life. Because emails and texts are so common these days, I treasure letters even more. Sadly, it is easier these days to just email than to write a letter.