Spirit of the River

Writing letters with pen and paper - a dying art? Do you remember a time when you still received handwritten letters in your mailbox (no, not your virtual mailbox, but the physical mailbox in front of your house)? If you are like me, then you might have had quite a few pen pals when you were younger. I started writing letters at the age of 9 or 10, and the older I got, the more pen pals I had, also quite internationally. After I came home from school, I always checked whether there were any letters on the table, and on a Saturday or during school holidays, I always went to the mailbox right away after the mail man (or woman) was there. Receiving a letter, opening it, reading it - it was quite special to me. After all it meant that someone somewhere else on this planet has taken the time to sit down and write to me. It was not only a letter but also a gift of time - something you can never get back. But then the internet became more easily available for the general public, a