Handwriting, my father and I

My late fatherinlaw(FIL) was a very tall man.. maybe around 6 feet in height. He had a body to match his height.. lean from his face to his feet.. except for his tummy.. he called it his "beer belly". He had a habit of smoking and drinking bears.. the former he gave up for my nagging annoyance.. the latter he and his son shared now and then!
One of the many notable things about him was his letter writing skills. He used to get a few letters.. mostly from his brothers (2). He would reply to them as soon as he received one. He had a table in our home. A wooden table and wood chair. On the table from one end to another papers would be stacked neatly.
And letters also stacked in the order it was received. Letters stack with rubberbands and color coded to identify where from they came. So different colors for brother, sister and sistersinlaw. In this stack ofcourse daughters and son did not come. Son stayed at home and daughters called over the phone if they needed any.
It was a pleasure to see my father (FIL) write. He had pens for these of which a fountain pen was his favorite. I remember us getting him a Parker and a Cross pen as gifts for his birthday but for the most part he shied away from expensive gifts.
He also had a stock of inland letters and stamps and envelopes.
But he still made a trip to the post office every other day. He retired working from there so maybe his affinity.
His handwriting…. That’s what I wanted to write about. Slanting and old world English. A treat to the eyes and ears, to read and see. He would start at the top and not waste a single space. In fact many times when he wrote to me, he would even write along the sides of the inland letter.. he would say something came up before I went to Post, so added it here..
Even if I talked to him over the phone he preferred to reply by letter, which I also preferred. As he grew older and entered the seventy five year mark, he switched to his typewriter. He loved his typewriter as much as he did his pens. To my complaint that I would rather see his handwriting, he said with arthritis it was becoming easier to type. For my sake he even learnt the email.. Nothing would ever compare to his penmanship.
It was a treat worth waiting for..And sweet memories I treasure in the form of letters he wrote to us.
My father on the other hand is a different story. His handwriting no one could decipher. None other than I.. As soon as we got a letter from my father, everyone would approach me to read it out. Though written in English it was worse than a doctor’s handwriting.
For this sake , my father made me practice handwriting and calligraphy even when young.
I was reminded of both my fathers' handwritings, when I received a letter written by my father just recently. And ofcourse I read it out to my dh. In my mind I knew it did not matter if one could not read the handwriting so well. All that matters now is that I have someone who writes to me. A thought and letter that I can always cherish.

Dear AC

you must have ESP. I was just thinking recently about my father and his letter writing skills. He always had long and short envelopes, aerograms, stamps and all the works.
He was so prompt in writing to people and replying very promptly. In fact, I was also remembering that after his passing away, I have not recd. a single letter from anyone!
Mom, on the other hand was not big on letter-writing.

His handwriting was more like your father's. It would take some effort to read, but I loved so much to get a letter from him. We siblings communicate by e-mail or over the phone.

My neighbor's mom, a lady in her late seventees, once shared with me how she missed getting letters from her children. Her grandkids, though would periodically write to her, which she saves and reads from time to time when she misses them.

I think the art of letter writing might become extinct for the next generation.

Cheer

This was not just a touching post. It also expresses true appreciation of some of the best things human kind discovered and which are fast disappearing from earth. A handwritten letter, written by a loved one and waiting for you in the post box used to bring endless joy in the past. And handwriting too was an art. The very fact that you are holding a sheet of paper that was touched by your loved one is heart warming. I understand your feelings very clearly. Not merely because you expressed them so beautifully, but also because I have always enjoyed reading good handwriting and handwritten letters. Excellent post.

Lovely post AC. Very heart-warming to note that you mention your FIL and your father in the same breath - not many people can do that. This one thing really struck me in particular.

Nice to be reminded of those old days of glory when you waited for the mail man to show up and deliver a precious gift called "letter".

Letter writing is an art that is unfortunately dying. I belong to the old school like you. I love writing and receiving letters.

One of my fondest and most cherished memories are of the time my father wrote us (me and my siblings) individual letters from Germany. Mom and us kids were in India. We kids were very young and could barely read but yet he wrote each of us (and Mom) a letter every week. Those days phones were not common. The only mode of communication was letters. He used to write on lovely picture postcards and also used to describe the picture on the card to us. I still have all of those letters. There are other reasons why those letters have become so very dear and precious over the years. Anyway, those reasons are to share at another time.

Just this long weekend I disappeared into the basement to go through some of the old letters and cards I have received over the years. It was a sheer joy.

Thanks for bringing lovely thoughts to my mind just before I go to bed!
SS

hi
Your post reminded me of some of my own experiences.
My father had a beautiful hand writing and worked very hard on mine and as a result mine was a mirror image of his.
Fountain pens were preferred instruments,ball points discouraged
Straight was preferred to slant in alphabets reason he said it revealed an upright person.
Length of t and h were taken care of
The result was me a doc with a good handwriting an unusual phenomenon.
Humera

dear AC,

EXCELLENT POST..and lucky u to have someone who still writes letters to u...yes i too felt happy to hear u speak of both your father and fil in the same affectionate way...my dads handwriting too is terrible but i have treasured all his handwritten letters and today for the sake of us kids they have learnt how to be net savvy too...unfortunately never knew my fil but have got a ew letters of hubby to mil...nice to read these once in awhile...

Mindi

Dear Ac,

That was a good one !

My father's handwriting less said about it is better and FIL also falls in the same category. In both the families only my hw is good now my elder has started the competition and younger one is also catching up fast. My DH, i call his hw as kozhi kirukkal......... just cannot decipher it. So right now I am enjoing the pride of place.

Ac noted that your hw is too good, would love to receive a handwritten letter from you......... ha ha ha

Dear AC,
You have struck gold with this post , like you do with all the others.Letter writing is something I loved and preserve many that I got frineds and family. It was such a treat.
With the advent of latest technology, this has taken a beating.I loved the way you wrte about your FIL's hw. My older DD hw is good the younger one yet to start, DH well.. God save the person who has to read what he has written, so the crown is all mine now!!!!!!!!!

Dear Chitra,

Before I could finish writing a FB in the morning there was power failure. Everything went off into the drains including my ideas.

You desrve a honest FB. So please give sometime to think.
Now I want to say a thread which takes my memories back to those time when I use to wait eagerly for the postman to come. kanaka

Hi AC,

You are right....what matters to you is that , you have someone who writes to you..irrespective of how legible their writing is....

I too love to receive and write letters....

Even in my case, my appa's handwriting could not be read by anyone who is not used to it..but I always loved receiving it...he used to write to me often after my marriage.When I went to kuwait, though I spoke to him over the phone... I got letters from him in between..which used to be ,just those enquiries of our well being...And you know it took about 2 weeks for the letter to reach us and we would have spoken in between so many times...