Pen in Hand

My good friend Kitty told me about a letter she discovered from an ancestor and what amazing penmanship he had.  Her story made me think of a letter my late mom had received from her paternal grandfather when she was a small girl. She still had it among her keepsakes at the time of her passing.  Great-grandfather's handwriting was beautiful, too.  At one time, handwriting was so important, but today it is being quickly relegated to those "things we used to do," due to the advent of the keyboard.  I greatly admire the handwriting of my friends Donna and Julie.  As I have watched them write, their pens glide across the paper and what is left behind is consistently legible, artistic, creative and beautiful.  I, on the other hand, have handwriting that changes with the years and my moods.  I've written slanted backward and slanted forward, straight up and down, large and loopy, small and tense, strictly cursive and other times nearly printing.  Despite the convenience of email and texting, I love to receive and send hand-written notes.  So long as my handwriting remains legible and there's still notepaper to write on, I'll keep committing pen to paper.  And maybe, just maybe, someday through much practice, my handwriting will become as lovely as Donna and Julie's (but don't count on it!).