My friend's mother recently passed away, and I was unable to attend the funeral to give my condolences in person. I wanted to do something more than just send a cookie-cutter sympathy card, so I decided to send him a letter letting him know how I felt about
his loss as well as how important he has been to me over the years. My handwriting is terrible though, and I find it easier to think of what to say at the keyboard, so I write just about everything using a word processor. It was to be no different for this letter. Not having to worry about my penmanship freed me to think and then say the things I really felt and wanted to share with my friend. After printing it, though, I was struck by how impersonal and sterile the text looked. I might as well email my sympathies. So I decided to write the letter by hand. It took some time, and my penmanship was no better than ever, but it was legible, and, more important, in my own hand.
I believe the same applies when journaling or scrapbooking. I like to think that our descendents will appreciate seeing our handwriting. I know I love to see the lines written by my ancestors in letters and other documents, or even scribbled on little scraps of paper that they never intended for anyone to find or one day cherish.
We often don't appreciate the value of what we write, either for the reader today or for someone finding our writings a century from now, but either way it makes a difference to have it in your own hand. Handwriting carries more than just the meaning of the words--it's something of ourselves that brings us closer to the reader. Even if you're like me and can't write attractively or even legibly, it may be worth the effort to type it out and then write it once again--by hand.
Discovering old letters or documents that were left by a family member can be very exciting. Our first reaction is to show our finding to other family members and friends, pointing out the penmanship of a letter or the hand-painted woodcut images of a page from an old book, discussing the document's content, and contemplating the history behind it. However, handling the object can easily damage it, especially if it is fragile. It is important to find a good preservation method that will allow you to display as well as protect the object. One easy solution is to create a protective mat to house the object. The mat provides support for the object and keeps fingers off. In addition, the object can be scanned or copied while in the mat, and information can be written about the object on the front or the back of the mat.