Since the takeover of social media and technology, the new "norm" when contacting your friends, family, and others, is by sending them a text or Facebook message. There are so many forms of social media that it is hard to keep track. Now, don't get me wrong. I enjoy social media just as much as the next person. But, there is nothing that makes my heart warm as much as getting a handwritten letter. Handwritten letters are so special, and have so much meaning.

Because handwritten letters are harder to come by these days, the excitement that I am filled with when I get one is like no other. This summer, I have been corresponding with one of my friends from school via "snail mail", just because. He and I share a common passion for reading and writing, which is not something that I encounter as I often now as I did when I was a kid.

Letters are an easy way to compile all of your thoughts into a condensed (or, not so condensed) medium. I often write letters that I do not send, because it helps me sort my thoughts out. When it comes to sorting out my thoughts, I find that writing in general is a lot easier than verbalizing.

To the people out there that are lucky enough to receive handwritten letters, do not take them for granted. In fact, treasure them. Because they are already dying down in popularity, who knows what will happen years into the future. In the past, letters were the only available method of communicating. We take for granted the simplicity involved in communicating with others and personally, I wish more people would realize the beauty in letter writing.

If you are reading this, get a notebook out. Whether you write an actual letter to someone you know, or just write a letter that gets your feelings out, but never gets sent, do it. I am going to end this with a quote from a letter I wrote a few years back that I will never send--

"I have been waiting for the opportunity to choose you. To pick you forever and never change my mind. But until that day comes, we can be pen-pals. Making our written words become promises, and our dreams become reality. Write like we are running out of time to do so."