My childhood penpal and I are still in touch, but now we send long emails every few weeks instead of writing. We include short handwritten notes in our snailmail Christmas and birthday cards. We went directly from handwritten letters to emails. We never used a typewriter to communicate.

My 10-year-old grandson lives with his mom and her parents in California. They moved there from RI, where he was born and lived until he was 7 or 8. His dad, my son, lives in RI, too. Almost every week I write the longest message I can fit onto a postcard to send him. On special occasions I include the message in a regular card. I have wonderful friends who buy postcards for me whenever they travel to places I don't go. He would have a good collection of postcards, but I doubt he can keep them. He lives on a boat in a marina, and space is limited. He'll be here for two weeks later this month, but he was only here for four days between Christmas and the New Year's Day. I don't send post cards when he is here.