Musings

Handwritten Letters

       When was the last time that you had the thrill of receiving a handwritten letter, not typed or electronic, a pen on paper version?  We have lost the art of writing thoughtful and caring letters.

I grew up with real letters, good penmanship, and fine, often monogrammed paper.  We learned in school how to write legibly.  Today's students are not generally taught that skill; they are only taught how to print.

        One of my fondest memories is one where as soon as I was clever enough to actually sign, not just print   my name, my Daddy took me out to lunch and to get my first library card and bankbook.  These were considered signs of my great maturity, all at the advanced age of about seven. 

       Communications have become very easy since the advent of email, but email has taken away the personal touch of handwritten mail.   Even typing and mailing a note by "snail mail" is not as rewarding to both the sender and recipient as actually taking pen to paper.  We have had to invent a series of emoticons to add personality and expression to our electronic messages just to make them more personal. 

       Learning to write handwritten letters does take some time on your part.  If you do not know how to write in cursive script, you will need time and lots of practice.  Having a good pen and nice paper, not the lined notebook kind, as well as envelopes and stamps may set you back a little. If you are going to try to relive the fine skill of letter writing you should assemble all of the tools so you have no excuse to not forge ahead.

       The pleasure that you can give to someone with a hand written letter is a wonderful gift.  The pleasure of creating a thoughtful  and caring message is worth the time and effort.

Your Money - Your Life 

JUNK MAIL

            Are you buried in junk mail? Are you aware that you can opt out, and stop the clutter, by contacting the Direct Marketing Association?  The DMA has a program called DMAchoice™  that can take you off unsolicited 

mailing lists.

            The DMA deals with four categories of direct marketing mail; credit offers, catalogs, magazine offers, and miscellaneous other offers. DMAchoice will help you or stop receiving mail from specific companies within each category-or from an entire category

at once.

            Your requests are then passed on to member companies, and some non-members) monthly who are required to honor the list for at least three years.  There are also specific lists to stop mail to the deceased, and for caregivers to report junk mail for their patients.

            Although non-member companies are not required to honor the lists, most do because reduced ad costs affect their bottom line.  It will probably take about 90 days for your requests to take effect, be patient.

            If there are some catalogs that you miss after you stop your unsolicited mail you can contact these companies directly to be put back on their lists.  For all your other junk mail challenges you can contact the Direct Marketing Association for assistance.  

          FOUNDATION, Inc.       

Remember your $25 

is tax deductible and

• can fund a small business, 
• give a person clean water for a year, 
• change the economy of a whole Village 
• or provide books for early literacy programs 

.