When Elizabeth Moran, of Banksville, emigrated from England to the United States in 1957, she sent postcards to two dozen of her relatives and friends to inform them of her safe arrival.
From that group, just one friend, Gwen, survives. For the past half-century, the women, now both in their early 80s, have remained in touch via letters.
"The once bold and clear handwriting is barely legible now and needs a magnifying glass to decipher, but we still keep it coming and going over the wide ocean. There is nothing to compare with a handwritten letter from an old friend. Something to hold in your hands to be read and re-read," says Moran -- in a handwritten letter.
Letters can implore, confess and profess undying love. Letters unite loved ones separated by continents, provide solace during times of grief, and give homesick soldiers a sense of appreciation. They are tangible reminders that emotions that can endure for a lifetime.
And, they are quickly becoming outdated by technology. E-mail has made taking a pen to paper -- or even typing a letter -- something of an anachronism.
Letter writing "just isn't as convenient," says Samara O'Shea, the author of "For the Love of Letters: A 21st-Century Guide to the Art of Letter Writing" (Collins, $19.95). "But I think most people will agree it's more powerful, it's more meaningful. There's an emotional disconnect with e-mail."
O'Shea, 27, grew up in Philadelphia and is a graduate of Duquesne University. She traces her love of letters to a summer camp romance she had when she was 15. O'Shea "counted down the days" waiting for a reply to a letter she sent to a young boy, then carried it with her to show friends.
Now she runs the Web site www.letterlover.net, where she serves as an advocate for the form and writes letters for those searching for the right words. For a fee, O'Shea, who has written for Country Living and Women's Day, will touch up or refine sentiments for the lovelorn, the hopeful and the penitent.
Letters, more than any other form, "provide a record of your life," O'Shea says.
But in a more immediate sense, letters provide tangible evidence of concern for another person.
"It's somebody going out of their way to let you know they were thinking about you," O'Shea says. "I think it reinforces your relationship, be it a husband or a wife or a friend. They are demonstrating they are willing to do this thing that is no longer required of anybody for you."
Although letter writing is not as prevalent as it once was, many keep up the pursuit -- even in response to this story.
Kathleen Molesky, of Belle Vernon, Westmoreland County, admits that letter writing does take more time than e-mail. A letter, she writes, "sends a silent message that that person is very important to me."
Loretta E. Stana, of Ruffs Dale, Westmoreland County, includes handwritten notes with cards sent for holidays including St. Patrick's Day.
"Anyone can look at cards in a card store," Stana writes, noting that a physical ailment saps her energy and writing is one of the few things she can do comfortably.
"The letter personalizes the card. Some people tell me it's a lost art. People are important to me. The letters show how important they are. The only true gift is a portion of thyself."
Laura Dlugopolski, of Natrona Heights, began writing letters to servicemen and women in World War II was she was 15, and in many cases "got to know them better than my friends here," she writes. She has shared sorrows and the joys of family, and adds, "I'd miss no mail days."
Sometimes the act of writing a letter conveys more than the information imparted. Bob Dodds, 86, of Cranberry, Butler County, writes at least five short letters per month to relatives across the United States, sending them with clippings from local newspapers. His wife, who suffered a stroke three years ago, also sends letters to friends and relatives, even though she had to learn to write with her left hand.
"Writing friends and family has been great therapy for her," Dodds writes.
Many relationships have endured because of letters. Abigail and John Adams exchanged more than 1,100 letters during their lifetime about love, politics and family. F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald were frequent correspondents, as were Napoleon Bonaparte and Josephine.
Longtime friendships often are strengthened via correspondence. For the past 60 years, Jeanette Hile, of Latrobe, and her sister-in-law have exchanged letters every week based on a friendship that began at Indiana State Teachers College (now IUP) in the 1940s. Hile mails a letter every Tuesday and receives one each Friday.
She writes: "At age 81, there isn't much excitement in our lives, but we never have a problem finding something to write."
Jennifer Roth, of Plum, looks forward to the six- to eight-page letter she receives twice a month from a friend she has known for 45 years.
"Anyone can buy a card and sign it or send an e-mail, or call on the phone," Roth writes, "but Anne has shared her life, children, grandchildren and trips to exotic places all over the world and many moves here in the U.S. Letter writing is a personal gift, not a chore. I wish it would come back in style."
Edith McGough, of Cranberry, Butler County, used to correspond weekly, if not more often, via letters with her friend Cyn. But rising postal rates, and the convenience of e-mail, have reduced letter-writing to two or three times per month.
"I suppose in a way our letters have become therapeutic," she says. "We laugh, tease, complain and vent. Sometimes we share secrets and trust each other to tear up anything that is to be kept private. We share good times and bad."
Letters also allow writers the chance to impart a sense of whimsy. While there are numerous fonts and backgrounds that can jazz up e-mails, those effects are temporary. A small drawing, a dab of perfume, a pressed flower cannot be transmitted electronically.
Madlyn Willard, of West Mifflin, does not own a computer or a typewriter and says she has no use for them. When she writes a letter, she tries to include small surprises such as bookmarks or small cards with inspirational sayings.
"P.S.," she writes on the back of a letter, "Isn't it nice to get unexpected goodies in the mail?"
O'Shea says, "It's more inspiring to the writer to be writing on something pretty. You step your handwriting up a notch. And to receive something like that ... even something sophisticated for a man, like a nice border, can be important. But it's not essential. You can write a love letter on a napkin, and that's fine."
Effective love letters
• Get right to the point, with one quick sentence. Try starting with a sense of urgency: "There's something very important I need to tell you."
• Make a list of all the things you adore about the person. Use the list to craft the letter.
• Disguise the letter as a thank-you note, for things they do and the things they have no control over. For example: "Thank you for making every day a truly unique experience -- you are an unending mystery."
• Clever, rhetorical questions are appealing: "Could I look any better being seen with you?"
• Use the length of the relationship to emphasize feelings: "After 30 years, I think it's safe to say we beat the odds."
• Have fun with failings. Let them know you love them despite their imperfections: "You are still my favorite person, despite the pile of trash that always seems to be at my feet when I ride shotgun."
Source: Samara O'Shea, author of "For the Love of Letters: A 21st-Century Guide to the Art of Letter Writing" (Collins, $19.95)
Famous words
Mark Twain to Bret Harte about the publication of "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Sketches," May 1, 1867: "The book is out, and is handsome. It is full of damnable errors of grammar and deadly inconsistencies of spelling in the Frog sketch because I was away and did not read the proofs; but be a friend and say nothing about these things. When my hurry is over, I will send you an autograph copy."
President Theodore Roosevelt writes to his son Ted about a famous encounter, Feb. 19, 1904: "Buffalo Bill was at lunch the other day, together with John Willis, my old hunter. Buffalo Bill has always been a great friend of mine. I remember when I was running for Vice-President I struck a Kansas town just when the Wild West show was there. He got upon the rear platform of my car and made a brief speech on my behalf, ending with the statement that 'a cyclone from the West had come; no wonder the rats hunted their cellars!'"
Jane Austen, to her sister Cassandra, Jan. 21, 1799: "I had a very pleasant evening, however, though you will probably find out that there was no particular reason for it; but I do not think it worth while to wait for enjoyment until there is some real opportunity for it."
Abraham Lincoln, to Gen. Joseph Hooker, Jan. 26, 1863: "I have heard, in such a way as to believe it, of your recently saying that both the Army and the Government needed a dictator. Of course, it was not for this, but in spite of it, that I have given you the command. Only those generals who gain successes can set up dictators. What I now ask of you is military success, and I will risk the dictatorship."
Marie Antoinette to her sister, just before her execution, Oct. 16, 1793: "Farewell, my good and tender sister, I hope that this letter may reach you. Do not forget me. I embrace you with all my heart as well as my poor children. My God! How it tears me to leave them forever. Farewell, farewell! I must now think of my spiritual duties. As I am not free they will perhaps bring me a priest (having taken the oath) but I swear here that I will not speak one word, and I will treat him as an absolute stranger."
Sources: www.mark-twain.classic-literature.co.uk, www.bartleby.com, www.pemberly.com, www.civilwarhome.com, "For the Love of Letters" by Samara O'Shea
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