I remember when "keep in touch" meant writing letters. Yes, writing. Not typing. Especially not typing on a keyboard connected to a computer. "Keep in touch" also didn't include phone calls, that is long distance phone calls. Long distance was expensive. Only a dire emergency or especially happy news rated a Long Distance Phone Call.
I remember when I was living on The Farm with Aunt Nettie and Uncle Everett the phone was attached to the wall. There was this horn-like thing sticking our from the center of the contraption, for speaking into and on the side there was a handle for ringing the Operator or a Neighbor who shared the party line. Individual lines were identified by long and short rings in a specific pattern. Didn't matter whose line was ringing, anyone else could pick up and listen in. And they did.
There also wasn't any indoor plumbing, but that's a story for another time.
Then phones became streamlined and could sit on a table, and there was a dial for calling the operator--to start a long distance call or ring someone on the party line. You had to hang up the phone for the operator to plug you into the party you wanted to chat with, then pick up your own handset when the ringing started.
Long distance was still for News, and people didn't use that option for mere chatting. Long Distance was not for "keep in touch"; it was for conveying important information, like births, deaths or serious illnesses, engagements, weddings, and the like.
Visits with out of town friends or relatives involved letter writing, not phone calls. And those visits were made after some long-range planning. It involved packing the family car with a lot of stuff needed for the trip and for the stay with the hosts. Hmmm. Oh, wait. That's still true.
However, a train trip might be considered for cross-country visiting, but taking the airplane was mostly unheard of. Getting on an airplane was Serious Business.
I remember also that Stewardesses (not Cabin Attendants) had to be registered nurses. That put a pretty serious block on my desire to be a Stewardess. The thought of being a nurse sort of turned my stomach.
So. Not long ago my computer crashed, and sometime during the crash and the installation of a new one, I misplaced my phone. You know what it's like to be on a deserted island and no means of communication???!!!! I felt cut off from the world, panic-stricken! But you know, there was a time when computers were science fiction, and not everyone had a telephone. Can you imagine?
So people wrote letters. By hand. And it was a matter of pride to be able to write neatly and clearly. I learned cursive by the Palmer Method. Anyone remember that term? Some children nowadays can't read cursive because they're taught to print. What's with that?? I think I have the answer. I find myself printing a lot because my arthritic fingers can't quite manage the Palmer Method cursive. Maybe printing is easier for small and growing fingers. And aged arthritic fingers.
Anyway, we wrote letters. I think this train of thought occurred when I went to my mailbox. A bill, some Vote For... and junk mail, flyers. I wished at the time to find an envelope with a hand-written address, to me, on it. A personal missive.
Anyone up to hand writing a personal letter to a friend? Or friends? What a novel idea. I think I'll give it a try.
Bless