Stayed pen pals with a girlfriend in Iowa after moving to California for about six months. Never was much good at filling a piece of paper with words till later in life, too easily swayed from one interest to another. Not prolific with emails either, write as is necessary to a few but not often, mostly replies.

There is a lady whom I've known forever, who was a dear childhood friend of my mother. She is a prolific letter-writer and used to correspond with Mama over the years, or we'd visit when we had a chance to go to my mother's birthplace.

This lady is in her later eighties now and is shut-in for sometimes weeks on end and many of her pen pals are now deceased. I have kept up written correspondence with her for a number of years and especially since my mother passed away. I can't keep up with her on sheer numbers of letters sent, but keep in touch by pen and ink (or printed on my puter printer) with only occasional phone calls.

It's a dying art, and this woman joys in getting mail in her box to pour over perhaps several times and maybe even stow away as physical evidence of her friendships. Sitting at her desk and sharing her thoughts are an important part of her day and her mind is as sharp now as it was ever and I think the letter writing has been part of why. In addition to that, I have gained some really precious insights to my mother's life when she was a young girl, especially since it was a different perspective than the stories my mother would share with me. Now, that as they say is 'priceless'.

So yes, I keep an active pen and ink habit. I also will surprise my three cousins with a rare letter even though we do phone each other on occasion.

Now, when I lived overseas it was at a time when phones were not mainstream in homes in those places and very, very costly to make long-distance calls and there was no email. I had several friends in America with whom I would send mail. It took about two weeks each way, even airmail. So new news was old news by the time each of us would get answers. Patience, patience..............it's also become a lost art, no?

Had a couple of pen pals over a long time, but am now the lone survivor.

We have only one son that lives away from us. We keep in contact by playing the same Internet game at night. We seldom play together. We just do our own thing, while he does his, but we write back and forth with the news, etc. on the chat line.

We "talk" more with him than we do the other two.

I never got into the habit of writing letters. I have some sort of dyslectic spelling problem. My fingers don't listen to my brain. I can think C-A-T, but my fingers will put down something completly different.

I was always ashamed of the way my letters looked when I finally finished one. It was Torture!!! I give thanks for e-mail and spell check.

I think I had a pen pal as a 4th grader, but don't remember more than that. I was never a great letter writer, even tho I loved hearing from others--but it doesn't work on a one-way basis, does it? That's why I've been so keen on email; I can type faster than write and the message is sent immediately. I keep in touch on a more frequent basis with friends and relatives than I ever did when I wrote letters. But, having said that, I now send more cards than I used to, especially for birthdays. A snail mail card can be put on the mantel, but not an email one.