Some people consider it cool to do things their grandparents once did, including sewing their own clothes, growing their own vegetables — and writing their own letters.
“When you get a letter, it’s not something minimized or clicked away. It’s like … a respite in the day,” Lydia Clarke told the Los Angeles Times last week.
Clarke is a member of the Los Angeles Pen Pal Club, which meets monthly to promote the lost art of letter writing.
The club started in 2010. Members meet monthly in a downtown stationery store, where they use letterpress paper, stamps, ink-well calligraphy and typewriters to write notes to pen pals around the world.
Club member Erika Mulan said letter writing is like keeping a journal. She shares her personal experiences and receives gems in return, like a friend’s description of the moments just before a tornado touches down.
“He said it gets super quiet, eerie quiet, and the sky turns green,” she said. “It was really beautiful. I could see it. It stayed with me.”