My 'stubborn' streak has been in full force this afternoon following on from the debacle that was my 2nd post that disappeared. I have tried every way that I can to find it again but I can't and now I'm going to give up and start again.
So, my post contained references to breakfast, cheese, books, anxiety, letters and my Nan, not necessarily in that order I have to say. I can lump Nan, letters and books all together like this:
My Nan used to write letters to me every week when I was at boarding school for a year when I was 13. I was dreadfully homesick initially and letters from my beloved Nan was what I looked forward to most. She didn't have very steady handwriting at times and she often had nothing much to say but the fact that she sat and wrote to me every week meant so much to me. It didn't matter that all she had to tell me about was how Jacko, her budgie, was doing.
Nan also used to send me stamps every week so that I could write back to her and I loved writing to her along with the rest of my family. It made me feel that I hadn't been forgotten about.
In the bedside cabinet beside my bed there is a plastic bag that contains some of the letters that she sent to me. Nan died in 1977 when I was 17 and I still miss her but, when I go back and read the letters and see her handwriting, it's like a little bit of her is still around.
I have always loved writing and receiving letters and I think it's a great shame that it seems to be a thing of the past. The emergence of email and texting has made letter writing seem like a chore but, even now, I get excited when I hear the letterbox open and hear the thud of the post as it lands on the doormat. It's only when I pick up the post and see that all there is are pizza delivery flyers, the free local newspaper and an envelope addressed to 'the occupier' that I get deflated.
I love Christmas and my birthday because I love to see who has taken the time to sit and write a card to me and then to post it. I don't think I will ever lose the excitement of the post! That is why I love writing letters too. If just one recipient has a smile on their face after receiving one of my letters then it's worthwhile.
I recently read a wonderful book called 60 Postcards by Rachael Chadwick. It was recommended to me by my sister who is a much more avid reader than myself. It's a true story of a young woman trying to do something to honour her mothers memory and it really struck a chord with me. As a consequence, I started to think about writing and then sat down and wrote three letters to people that I haven't been in touch with for a while.
Incidentally, I emailed Rachael Chadwick earlier on today just to make sure that I am allowed to use her name and title of her book in my blog and I was delighted when she emailed me back to say yes, it's fine to use her name and for me to recommend the book. How exciting!!
60 Postcards by Rachael Chadwick
Anxiety is not something that I am going to dwell on at the moment. Suffice to say that it has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. I feel sure that I will blog about it at some point here but today is not the day.
The breakfast and cheese references were to me eating my breakfast today and absent-mindedly cutting myself off a slice of cheese and then, even more nonchalantly, eating it. This habit started as a child. We always used to have a slice of cheese after our morning cereal and it was even more exciting if the cheese was Edam! I didn't give it a second thought when I had children of my own and I gave them cheese after their breakfast. They considered it normal. Now, I don't imagine for one moment that any of them keep up the tradition these days but, like today, I still find myself cutting of a slice of cheese and eating it after breakfast without even thinking about it.
So that's about it for now. I hope this post makes up, in some way, for the mess up that I made earlier. The 'stubborn' streak in me is now quelled and I can move on.
Happy Sunday everyone.
xxxx
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