Amy Lu's View

Dear Toad, 

How are you? I am fine. 

I’m writing you a letter because I am inspired by the Frog and Toad story “The Letter.” I have a goal of writing a blog post based on every one of the Frog and Toad stories. This is my 14th post in the challenge!

You may wonder what a blog post is. Basically, it’s a letter posted on the internet to anyone who might read it, not necessarily to a specific person. 

You may also wonder what the internet is (a bunch of tubes?) If you do know what the internet is, then you may wonder how a letter is different than an email. Mostly it’s different because you have to have a stamp to send a letter, and it can take a few days to arrive. So you have to be more patient when communicating via a letter, and sometimes more organized. 

Letters are also often handwritten, rather than typed, which is really awesome because handwriting is a very tangible expression of a person. Having a handwritten letter from someone can help you feel closer to them, even if you are separated by distance and time. 

I am also inspired to write this blog post because February was International Letter Writing Month. Yes, I had hoped to write this post in February because now it is mid-March, but you seem like an amphibian who isn’t too strict about scheduling. 

I don’t think many people write and send letters anymore because there are so many more communication options – not only email but text and messaging and so many others. But I am old enough (or maybe I should say SO old) that I’ve lived a fair amount of life during a time when letters were a pretty important way to communicate. 

Letters were very important to me when I was twenty years old (don’t know if that sounds old to an amphibian but it sounds very young to a middle aged lady) and I was an exchange student in Winchester, England. It was my very first time away from home for any significant amount of time, and I definitely got homesick, and I especially missed my mom and my boyfriend, Chad. 

Luckily, they both wrote to me, and my mom even wrote to me every day! My mom’s letters were often just fluffy recounts of her day, and she didn’t have to write very much because she had large handwriting so could quickly fill up paper, but I loved getting them in the mail (getting mail was very exciting!) and they made me feel loved. 

Now that my mom is dead I really treasure them. (Sorry if it feels harsh to you, Toad, to say “dead” but I really don’t like the euphemism “passed away.”) Actually, I should be brave some time (and a little drunk) and read them again. Why do I need to be brave (and a little drunk)? Because re-reading those letters will probably create a lot of feels. I’ve only re-read them once in the twenty years since she died and it was a beautiful experience, but very intense and made me miss her more deeply than I do on a normal basis. 

I also received (and presumably sent) letters around that same time period when I was “at home” (either at college or at my parents). I found those letters this summer when I was attempting to de-clutter and was quite surprised – I had no idea that I had received so many letters back then! I assume that I wrote a similar amount, and I even found some drafts that I had written and never sent. I looked at all those letters and they brought back several memories – good, interesting, and just weird. I’d also forgotten how close some of my friendships were then (thanks for all those letters, Jennifer!)

I’ll confess, Toad, that I even threw some of those letters away (I was trying to de-clutter, after all), including one by a friend that still irritated me, even thirtyish years later. Actually, I think it annoyed me more now – my friend was offering “feedback” on a column I had written in our college newspaper and his critique included the term “femi-nazi.” I have no problem working up moral outrage so there was no need to hang on to that letter.

I’ve even had some pen pals in my lifetime! When I was a teenager, I somehow got connected with a fellow U2 fan, Sheri, and we wrote to each other about how much we loved Bono and about our pets. And my brother got me a pen pal, one of his fellow soldiers who was happy to get mail, even from someone’s little sister.

Today I don’t write that many letters (as we’ve talked about, there is texting and emailing to use instead) but I do frequently send letters and cards to my friend Pat, and she faithfully sends letters and cards to me. I love getting mail, and I love getting Pat’s correspondence, and I love how thoughtful and comprehensive her letters are. Pat shares everything from her philosophical insights to her memories to recounts of her daily activities and interesting things she’s read and watched. (My correspondence is much more haphazard and shallow but Pat deals with my limitations). 

I think that may be the best thing about letters (and cards and notes), Toad – how intimate they are. Maybe it’s just a preference or prejudice of a middle aged lady, but letters feel so personal, even when they are just recaps of mundane life. Maybe there is something about the physical act of writing and reading it, or the timing of letters–you just can’t get immediate feedback, so that affects what you write. 

I really didn’t start to understand Chad’s feelings for me until we exchanged letters. 

Maybe we can be more vulnerable in letters? (Even if we’re still boring and weird).

Oh my, Toad, this is a long letter/blog post. It is not nearly as succinct or eloquent as the letter Frog wrote to you:

“Dear Toad, I am glad that you are my best friend.

Your Best Friend, Frog.”

I’ll try to emulate your letter from Frog. 

“Dear Blog Reader, I am glad that you are my best blog reader.

Your best blogger, Amy.”