The Art of Connecting Through Paper and Pen T
his year made it more difficult to connect to other people than I had ever expected, but as a young and fit person I certainly had it a lot better than others who had to shield. One of many who had to shield was my Gran and with her living so far away from us it was hard to see her often before all this happened. The more I felt disconnected to the world I would set up a Zoom group call, text someone or FaceTime a friend to pull me out of my funk; I realised that there were people living in this isolated world who did not have access to the internet and were lucky to see their postman in the distance. This sparked me to start writing to my Gran. My Gran and I have not always had the idyllic relationship. There has always been love between us, but growing up we just didn’t always see eye to eye. It would be more than fair to say that my Gran and I are far from similar; but as I wrote letters to my Gran telling her about my life and asking her how she was (knowing I wouldn’t get a reply) I realised we have way more similarities than I ever could have realised. For one, she loves to receive letters and that is something we most certainly have in common. There is something about receiving a handwritten letter that just means so much more than any other type of communication. A letter takes time and effort, it is a moment where someone is truly speaking to you without notifications pinging up as they write. It is also a therapeutic experience for the letter writer as they get to reflect, which is something that is good for all of us to do once in a while. Letters have been around for generations, and to me, they are the elite form of connection. Reading a letter from a loved one after they have passed gives you a moment with them. Reading love letters sent back and forth by couples through the hardest times gives you hope. A letter is something you can return to and its magic never runs out. I will always be eternally grateful for the time that I had sending letters to my Gran, and readers, just know it’s never too late to start writing. By Kirsty Taylor. In loving memory of Christina Taylor: 1929–2020. When Kirsty isn’t head editing for us, she is writing poetry, hosting a podcast or studying to be a student teacher.
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