Letter #410709

Burleigh Falls, Canada, July 9, 1941

Hello Darling:

I sure do miss you and wish you were here, maybe next year we will be here together by ourselves.

I’m writing this while waiting for the boys to go fishing together. We are going all day and hope to change our luck. Everything is fine. Well, I will have to go. Will see you soon.

Love Hawgan.

Thurs     Fri     Sat      Sun     Mon

xxx      xxx      xxxxx     xxx      In Person

P.S. I love you. I love you. I love you.

Reflection: You certainly had to plan ahead to send your loved one a sentiment back in the day. These days, I share memes and photos on Facebook, and text emojis to those I love, and call my mom most days, which takes seconds to do. I take it for granted how “connected” I am, yet I am amazed how alone it feels sometimes.

Marshall McLuhan, a contemporary philosopher, was credited with saying, “The medium is the message”. This gets me thinking about the time and effort that Horgie put into carefully crafting a hand-witten letter, getting the stationary, a pen, stamp, and then getting it to the post office. The medium was simply a hand-written letter, the message was “I’m thinking of you and it is important to me that you know while I’m away with my friends having a fun time, I’m thinking of you.” That written sentiment endured in each of the +300 letters he wrote to Peachy throughout World War 2. 

I don’t have Horgie’s wordsmithing or penmanship when it comes to writing. But, like Horgie, I do have a deep desire for authentic connection, to reach out to my friends, family, and neighbours with a love that moves me to action to let them know I am thinking about them. And it does me a world of good. 

I am working on being conscious of the medium and the means by which I communicate to enrich my words, be it flowers, a hand-made card, words of encouragement while sharing a hug, cereal with milk, chatting while giving a haircut, all these things communicating my love. I’ve learned these things from excellent examples set by neighbours, friends, and family. 

I encourage you to reflect on the medium and its impact on the relationship by which you communicate your love for family, friends, and neighbours this week. What is the message you are sending with your actions? Does it enrich your message? It seems that these little things can have a big impact. Good lesson for me there. I hope for you as well.