Making time for friends: Snail mail or email

Now we call it “snail mail.” For those of us who were born in the slice of time after telephones and fax machines---and before email, IMs, and text messages---writing a letter was a common way to stay in touch with family and friends across the miles...

My father sent my mother regular love letters while he was a soldier in Europe during World War II. I sent regular letters to my son while he was away at summer camp for what felt like eight very long weeks (even though I didn’t get many back). But now with newer technologies, the tools of communication have changed so radically that even the moniker “snail mail” makes letter-writing sound so passé.

That’s why the AP story that appeared in the Wichita Eagle caught my eye. It was an enchanting tale of two young girls in different continents who first became pen pals at the ages of 10 and 11, respectively, and who continued to correspond with each other two or three times a week for 46 years.

The friendship started as an English assignment in Beth Krasovec’s fifth-grade class in Prairie Village, Kansas in 1961. Beth was assigned to write to Margaret Marshall, a student in Scotland. From there, a close and lifelong friendship took root. The girls who became women decided to meet for the first time in the US in 1980. Last June, 27 years after their first letter, Beth went to visit her friend in Scotland. The two women have shared the joys and sorrows of their lives over the years---remaining extraordinarily close to each other.

Now because letter-writing is somewhat of a lost art form, a hand-written note comes with special meaning, albeit more slowly. I cherish the letters and notes I receive from friends who take the time to write, despite their busy lives, because I know they have placed my friendship near the top of their to-do list. They could have sent an email more quickly but I wouldn’t have had the fun of looking at the return address and opening the envelope with great anticipation. Also, they probably wouldn't have spent as much time thinking about what they wanted to say to me.

I reluctantly understand that maybe there wasn’t enough time, this time, for lunch or spending a day together. In our frenetic, multi-tasking world, friendship is often about making time for friends a priority in your life and sticking with it—whatever the mode. Ask Beth.