Three Things...Gratitude Thread

[PollyannaMom]

Today's Topic - 3 handwritten things you are, or have been, grateful for

 

[WDWEPCOT]

Ooh the lost art of handwriting !!!
I’m grateful that my old photos have the names written on the back and I can read the person’s handwriting !! I have a lot of old photos of my grandparents and great grandparents!

Family history letters or stories - found some in going through some old things of my mothers - these are from my grandmother on my fathers side I didn’t know who as she had passed by time I was born - very interesting reading these life stories dating back to the 1920 forward ! This was right before my father was born !

Another life history on mothers side from long kept family secret that came to light when I was a preteen - I imagine now as adult it was a shock for my mother ( huge shock) as she found out the woman she thought was her mother wasn’t ! My grandfather had been married before and had her and her brother with another woman who died after my mother was born - imagine not telling your kids that for 30 plus years ?? Actually no one said a word !! Not sure how they couldn’t have a clue as my real grandmother was Spanish and both kids mom and her full brother - looked it and second wife and all other kids from second wife did not look Spanish - just saying there’s a clue there !!! My grandfather is not Spanish but I now have my mother’s letter writing history to her Aunts to get family history! Plus the photos !!!
I myself still considered the 2nd wife my grandmother as I knew no other as far as I was concerned she was and would always be my grandmother! It didn’t change anything for me ! But I can’t imagine how my mother must have felt ! Whole family keeping this secret for decades not right then saying in the letters I’m so glad you found out ! Really !! ???
very weird to me ! I’m just glad I have the stories from the sisters of my mom’s real mother !

Just my opinion but I do wish they would teach handwriting still - years from now kids are not going to be able to read these types of things unless they learn it a lot of family history will be lost . So sad !!

 

[slo]

Good Morning!

#1 - My Girls School Items - I have saved boxes of it because I love looking at their little girl handwriting. I can’t bring myself to throw them away, but one day I’ll need to.

#2 - Everything with my Grandma’s handwriting on it - She’s been gone for 18 years and I still painfully miss her every day.

#3 - Memories of passing notes in school - the good old days of passing notes. We had all sorts of fancy ways of folding the paper and secret ways of passing those notes. Kids today will never know the skill and strategy to secretly communicate back then - LOL!

 

[WDWEPCOT]

Ooh good one note passing in class !!!!

 

[leebee]

I have a 5"X7" manila envelope addressed to me, in my mom's handwriting, mailed when we lived in PA in 1999. I use it to store the unpaid bills (I sit down at the end of the month and schedule all payments at one time). My mom died in 2005, so I like having this keepsake. I have taped the envelope seams several times to keep it intact, but her writing is still on it, undisturbed.

I also have a scrap of paper listing all my paternal aunts and uncles, by first and middle name. It's written in my dad's handwriting. They've all died now, so it's nice to have this. They also had a lot of nicknames (like Uncle Gilly) so it's nice to really know who is who! I also have the letter my dad wrote to my mom on the night of my birth (I'm the first child) as well as some anniversary, birthday, etc cards he gave her.

I have a letter hand-written by a neighbor that was sent to my mom when he learned that my father had died. This neighbor, who was only 19, was stationed in Viet Nam at the time.

 

[leebee]

And I agree, cursive should still be taught. There are quite a few studies linking it to neural pathway development, both from being able to write in cursive and read it as well. Three cheers for brain development, right?

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Cards from my grandma who had the most beautiful handwriting.

Cards older and current from dad.

Cards and notes from family and friends written and typed along with those I have been blessed to send that I pray brought the receiver a smile.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Old Recipes - When my FIL passed, we were cleaning out his home and found DH's paternal grandmother's handwritten recipe for chocolate chip pecan oatmeal cookies. They were a favorite. He ended up coming home with the recipe. The guy who supposedly hates nuts, loved these cookies. We haven't made them though because of DD17s allergies, but one day we will.

Ceremonial notes - With Passover upon us, I was reminded of my maternal grandmother's little notes throughout our little books for the seder. The Haggadahs (those books) were scripted with who was reading what, what would be omitted, some of the dinner and snack plans, and even some directorial notes. I think my mom got those when she passed.

Dry Erase Board notes - We had one on our door during my freshman year of college. It was always funny to see who would write to us. We've done something similar on cruises. Most people wrote very nice things.

 

[leebee]

Another vote for old family recipe cards!

 

[PollyannaMom]

Oooh, great answers! - I definitely second labeled photos, hand-written recipes, and that I didn't miss out on cursive!

I'm also grateful I grew up when letter-writing was still a thing. I had a school pen pal in the Philippines when I was in 7th grade, and I also exchanged letters for years with an older family member (a level of cousin on my mom's side) after visiting them one summer.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

The Declaration of Independence
The Constitution
The Gettysburg Address

 

[TiggerTrigger]

I'm also grateful I grew up when letter-writing was still a thing. I had a school pen pal in the Philippines when I was in 7th grade, and I also exchanged letters for years with an older family member (a level of cousin on my mom's side) after visiting them one summer.

This triggered two totally separate and special writing memories.

1. At some point in elementary school, I was walking out of the YMCA after my weekly swim practice when I saw a green balloon floating in the parking lot and it had a note card attached. It was from a girl in PA. I guess it was some pen pal experiment they did at their school. We lived in NY metro area NJ, so her balloon had traveled quite a bit. It only lasted for a year or two, but it was really fun having a pen pal from something as random as a balloon landing in a parking lot.

2. One of our teachers had us send handwritten notes and goodies to soldiers during Operation Desert Storm. I remember getting a handwritten letter back from a soldier that got my letter. It was really cool to know that whatever I put together got to someone stationed over there and made enough of an impact to hear back. Somewhere in my boxes of stuff, I think I still have his note and the dated military photo he sent.

 

[1420Elexismc]

I constantly made lists so I handwrite a lot of things
I still write paper checks for rent
I handwrite notes on my son's lunch snacks occasionally

 

[bluecastle]

Ooh the lost art of handwriting !!!
I’m grateful that my old photos have the names written on the back and I can read the person’s handwriting !! I have a lot of old photos of my grandparents and great grandparents!

Family history letters or stories - found some in going through some old things of my mothers - these are from my grandmother on my fathers side I didn’t know who as she had passed by time I was born - very interesting reading these life stories dating back to the 1920 forward ! This was right before my father was born !

Another life history on mothers side from long kept family secret that came to light when I was a preteen - I imagine now as adult it was a shock for my mother ( huge shock) as she found out the woman she thought was her mother wasn’t ! My grandfather had been married before and had her and her brother with another woman who died after my mother was born - imagine not telling your kids that for 30 plus years ?? Actually no one said a word !! Not sure how they couldn’t have a clue as my real grandmother was Spanish and both kids mom and her full brother - looked it and second wife and all other kids from second wife did not look Spanish - just saying there’s a clue there !!! My grandfather is not Spanish but I now have my mother’s letter writing history to her Aunts to get family history! Plus the photos !!!
I myself still considered the 2nd wife my grandmother as I knew no other as far as I was concerned she was and would always be my grandmother! It didn’t change anything for me ! But I can’t imagine how my mother must have felt ! Whole family keeping this secret for decades not right then saying in the letters I’m so glad you found out ! Really !! ???
very weird to me ! I’m just glad I have the stories from the sisters of my mom’s real mother !

Just my opinion but I do wish they would teach handwriting still - years from now kids are not going to be able to read these types of things unless they learn it a lot of family history will be lost . So sad !!

This is so interesting for me to read since I have a similar story. I didn’t find out that my grandmother on my mom’s side was not her birth mom until the day we were getting ready to go to her funeral! My mom’s birth mom died when my mom was around 3. She said that my grandfather wouldn’t allow any talk about it and there were no pictures around the house. At my mom’s funeral last month I was talking to my aunt (my mom’s half sister) and how I found out and she said, Imagine how I felt when they were celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary and I had 3 older siblings in their late teens and early 20’s! Luckily, some photos were saved and a few were labeled. I inherited my piano talent from my mom’s mother, but my good memories of who I knew as my grandma are all intact and treasured. (She always said yes when the ice cream truck came by!)

 

[bluecastle]

I actually taught cursive writing and am definitely in the camp that believes it should be taught.

My DD and I wrote notes to each other all the time and even kept a journal for a while. ( now we text) She started writing stories when she was 5 and you can imagine the volume of pages that I have saved!

I have gotten more selective about what greeting cards I save now, but anything with notes and signatures from those who have passed, I can’t part with.

Being left-handed, my own handwriting has always been a challenge. However, I do have an unusual “talent”. I can write backwards in cursive (like Leonardo da Vinci)
I had a friend in 8th grade and we would write notes to each other that way.

 

[Tink-osophy]

Handwritten

Greetings cards & little notes

Historical documents, especially personal ones (old diaries; postcards and letters from people who've passed on; old school reports; recipes; birth/marriage/death registers; vacation scrapbooks from my childhood; stories written by young children etc. etc..)

School projects that are/were handwritten, rather than typed. It's too easy, now, to copy and paste (and plagiarize!) and there seems to be less of the individual in it. Am I right that, in the US, kids sometimes do large projects for science fairs (etc.)? I just think that things like that are much better handwritten rather than printed out. Maybe, that's just me!!

 

[Tink-osophy]

I'm another who agrees with all of you about cursive still needing to be taught! (Along with many other manual skills.) There are just so many things handed down from one generation to another that have greater meaning because of this more human, personal touch.

 

[Tink-osophy]

Dry Erase Board notes - We had one on our door during my freshman year of college. It was always funny to see who would write to us. We've done something similar on cruises. Most people wrote very nice things.

Ooh, I love dry erase boards! (We call them whiteboards.) I use one for meal planning and it's just so satisfying to write on ...and to rub off!!!

 

[pixie3]

so many things, but...

1. My dad passed away when I was 6. I have the hand written eulogy by his best friend. I love it so much. It sounds like he is describing me in it sometimes.

2. My grandfather kept diaries from every single day in WW2. They are very small and teeny tiny as he wasn't allowed to do that. These diaries contain both: things that are beautiful and things that are horrifying.

3. A letter from my dad on my first day of kindergarten. He was sad he had to go to work and miss seeing me off.


I also love letters from my kids and my school notes that I still have (even folded up the way they are supposed to be).

 

[Tink-osophy]

so many things, but...

1. My dad passed away when I was 6. I have the hand written eulogy by his best friend. I love it so much. It sounds like he is describing me in it sometimes.

2. My grandfather kept diaries from every single day in WW2. They are very small and teeny tiny as he wasn't allowed to do that. These diaries contain both: things that are beautiful and things that are horrifying.

3. A letter from my dad on my first day of kindergarten. He was sad he had to go to work and miss seeing me off.


I also love letters from my kids and my school notes that I still have (even folded up the way they are supposed to be).