When’s the last time you wrote someone a letter?

Think really hard.

Was it to your parents when you were at your first sleep-away camp? If so, you’re probably like most of us. We now opt for emails to stay in touch. Or, in some cases, Facebook or MySpace messages. And in really lame cases, text messages. (A couple of guys I dated fell into this category. Not impressive.)

Sure, the technology of these forms of communication is great. In the workplace setting, we’re getting things done faster. And, we’re able to communicate more quickly with people all over the world. But with these perks - are we also becoming more and more impersonal every time we hit “send”?

I recently went to a place where old-fashioned letters fill up box after box. I did a story about the anniversary of the D-Day invasion, where I got a tour of the D-Day foundation’s archive room in Bedford. We sifted through some of the boxes and found the correspondence of a newlywed couple, John and Ivylynn Schenk. She kept every letter of his. And he vice versa. John died during the D-Day invasion. Seeing their last words on paper… saved after all of this time, honestly gave me chills.

This made me think about two people who LOVE getting mail… the real snail mail. My grandparents - known to the family as Mamaw and Papaw. At 79 and 85-years-old respectively, they walk up to the mailbox every day to get… The Mail. It‘s a very big deal. (And please understand the determination of this trip to the mailbox. They live in rural North Carolina… that driveway is a quarter of a mile long through a cow pasture. )

Remembering my archive room experience and recognizing their enjoyment, I decided to send them something… just out of the blue. Nothing long or drawn out, just a simple note telling them what I was up to in Lynchburg. I put a stamp on it, put it in the drop box, and - quite frankly - forgot about it.

Let me tell you - that letter was all my grandparents could talk about the next time the family got together. My mom says they showed everyone… and also made everyone read it. “Look what Shelley sent us from Lynchburg! We got it on Thursday.” And I do believe it is now displayed on their telephone table.

When’s the last time you saved an email? Or a really heartfelt text message? If you’re like me, you try to delete as many as possible… so that your inbox won’t get too cluttered. And I doubt… many years from now… anyone will sift through boxes of letters with our signatures on them.

The old snail mail system may seem just too sluggish for you these days, when a click of a mouse can speed the process along. But as is proof from John and Ivylynn and my grandparents… the end result can be much more special.

So if you get a chance, set aside some time, pull out the old pencil and paper, and write someone a short note. Mamaw and Papaw will be getting a lot more of them from me.