Photo Journal, no. 43 | Correspondence

Letter from Breana in California

I've been writing letters for years.  In high school, I joined a by-mail penpal exchange called Pen Friends (sadly, it doesn't exist anymore; I've searched), and shared correspondence with several different girls throughout those four years.  Never were these pen pals as dedicated as I, but that didn't deter me.  Upon making internet friends my freshman year of college, it seemed natural to suggest writing letters during my oppressively luddite summers out of the dorm.  These letters were always hand-written, usually on notebook paper or the back of flyers marking where we'd been, what we'd been doing, and always the letters from that first summer were long and heartfelt--the tragic Victorian love letters of sick poetry girls.  That May, June, July were filled with so many walks to the post office, and those letters, from Kath and Breana and Bre, the stray postcard from Stacy, envelopes stuffed with magazine clippings and ticket stubs, were my sustenance.

After that summer ended, as it turns out, letter-writing had become something of a habit.  On and off since 2004, I've been exchanging letters with Kath, and, with a few larger gaps, Breana.  I'd like to think my letters have gotten a little more sophisticated, though I can't be sure how true that is.  At the very least, in the last few years I've enjoyed shopping for stationery, and, with increasing interest, stamps.  Lately, I've taken to buying vintage stamps through eBay and Etsy: a tad more expensive, yes, but such a delight. 



Letters to Kath: vintage New Mexico and Sleepy Hollow stamp via eBay, all others via USPS.

Wildwood Tarot and letter to Kath: vintage beach stamps via Etsy.