No one is born with their future written in stone; it took me years to find my own path. Looking back I can see now what I couldn’t see then, that the tiniest inspiration, if you love it enough, can be the gateway to a future. For instance, don’t laugh, (and most of you probably already know) but I always got an A in handwriting. At the time, no one got very excited about that (although, when I was around fifteen, my dad did take something I wrote to work to show his co-workers, something the daughter will never forget ♥), but really, how much more insignificant could an “achievement” be? Would you ever imagine there could be a life in handwriting? Me, either.
But yes, it can happen. Which, by the way, means anything can happen! This is the top of my calendar page for March 2011. (Musica? Oui!) It’s a celebration of good old-fashioned letter writing. I love my grandma’s old letters that all start with “Sue Darling;” my old boyfriend’s 
letters; all the letters from my best friend Diana when I left California to move to Martha’s Vineyard. Our letters flew back and forth and now they’re like little diaries. They never get old; their details capture and hold on to a moment in time like almost nothing else. Except for the photos, everything on that calendar page was either written or painted by hand. The old letter in the upper left was one written by a beau to Joe’s great, great grandmother in 1881. On the right, is the front, inside, and back of a card I wrote to my grandmother when I was eight. As you can see, I was so excited to get to the p.s., I almost forgot to sign my name first! I’ve always been a P.S. Person!
Goodbye cursive? Get outta here! They’ve been talking about taking cursive out of schools. I saw this newspaper in a gas station while traveling last fall and practically cried before I ran to get the camera! My sister says the school her eight-year-old twins go to is no longer teaching cursive! Luckily my little nephews are amazing artists; they want to know how to do cursive and Shelly, my sister, teaches them.
Learning cursive was the first connection between my brain, a pencil, and whatever artistic talent I had; moving the pencil just so to form letters, to make a little curl on an E, to bend the top of a T. I don’t know if it happened that way for other artists — but what if it was the same thing for some of the most talented artists, for example, like Monet, or DaVinci (who taught himself to write cursive backwards!), or John Singer Sargent? What if it was??? No pencil, no connection = just maybe, no art. Children see the learning of handwriting the same way they see art, learning to form their letters is like learning to draw. If you can make a letter, maybe you can make a rainbow. Not every child is going to be an artist, but what about the ones that would?
And for sure, two out of these three books could never have been written if it wasn’t for cursive. Not to mention the Declaration of Independence, which wouldn’t have been half so interesting or informative if it had been written perfectly, on a computer, all mistakes and cross-outs deleted.
I have nothing against a printed book, love love love them in fact, but
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this kind of book makes me feel history more than any printed book could ever do. Rachel (we met as pen pals and now we are dear friends for twenty years; go say hello if you have time!) sent me this old diary she found for sale in an antiquarian bookstore in England where she lives; she knew it would be my cup of tea, and she was so right!
This diary was written by a twelve-year-old British girl named Alice. She writes about her lessons with “mademoiselle,” about her dog, about teatime and what she ate; and about how much she whistles, which is practically every night. She really loves to whistle! ”Dec. 4, 1906 Nothing special today, whistled in the evening.” It’s a little treasure; she might have thought it was “nothing special” but it is to me. I wonder what she was like as a grown woman?
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I would love to have known Margaret Cavendish! And, just imagine, no this:
I have no doubt at all that Nancy Luce’s writings and little books were inspired by her simple everyday school life here on the island, learning to make her letters. Despite her illness and loneliness, she still managed, through her handwriting (and her heart), to become the most famous person on Martha’s Vineyard in the late 1800′s.
This was part of my diary entry for January 19, 1978; the first time I broached the question of how “real” writing was done. Sometimes people tell me they don’t want to use their handwriting in their scrapbooks and on recipe cards because they think it’s so bad. Could it be any worse than this? Would it really matter? Wouldn’t a great, great, great grandchild love seeing any kind of handwriting at all, as long as it belonged to you? (Yes, they would, I know this for a fact.♥)
And you know what else? Without cursive, here would be no more of these!! How terrible! Kitchen scrapbooks, all gone!
So, I’ve decided to declare this day, March 10th, as “I Love Cursive Day” for all of us who do. It’s too late for me to get this special day in my 2013 calendar, but it will definitely be there for 2014! ”I Love Cursive, Write a Letter Day,” that’s what it should be!
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X O X O X O
Cursive writing….how I labored with that in elementary school. My mom had me practicing ‘O’s and loopy ‘L’s….at the time, I just didn’t see the purpose or any progress for that matter. Fast forward to today and I so appreciate ‘handwriting’. I’ve kept all the letters sent to me at GS Camp from my grandmothers, aunt, mom & dad. All written with their own special flair. I think a rubber stamp is in order…..Long Live Cursive Writing….or, A Letter is Forever! What do you think, Sue??? xoxo peg
I am now 81 years old and learned cursive writing from day one in school. I am German born and we had exercise books with lines drawn to learn to kep the
letters at the right height and dimensions.
I loved writing and and is still with me today. Of course we used inkwells and nibs.
Even in the 1930 the pens were ergonomically shaped i.e. bulbous at the bottom end.
Today I still use the fountain pen. Nothing can beat it, the way it glides across the paper without effort.
Letters are in decline which is tragic. When I think of the story of man and how much has been deducted from their correspondence.
It will be difficult to trace their history for the lack of writing letters.
You are so right that letters are forever.
Nice to hear from you Horst! Thank you!
I too, will be so sad if they quit teaching cursive. I love looking at other people’s handwriting. I used to marvel at the way my dad signed his name on the papers I brought home from school back in the day when teachers had parents sign papers to show they had seen them.
You could tell he took pride in his handwriting; his signature was graceful, yet strong.
Not teaching cursive writing in schools makes me more than sad. I teach developmental math at university, and many students who have never learned cursive writing struggle so much with writing mathematical symbols and showing their work in general. I agree with you that cursive writing is like an art form and feel that it helps develop finely tuned hand-eye coordination. The brain also works differently when we are writing by hand versus typing. This is a crucial art form that shouldn’t be denied to anyone!
So right. When I write a letter by hand, or anything, it just has something different to it than when I type it. If I type something, I print it out and rewrite it in handwriting, so I can fix the coldness in the type! Strange but true.
SBranch, I have forever been one of your strongest cheer leaders and I certainly back you on the cursive writing issue. I support it for all the reasons listed above and 6 million more! I have letters written by my great grandfather, who was a doctor in the Civil War. They were written to his wife and are so precious. The history our family would have missed without those letters! Please take up the cause____many will join you!
How lucky you are! What treasures! Thank you Ann! I do the best I can to keep the cursive issue alive, hand-writing my books being my biggest hint!
Susan, I just love to write and always got “A’s” for my writing at school….I am with you to save and keep cursive writing alive. My granddaughter who is 7 keeps on about cursive and is proud to show me that she can join up the letters of her name. I will encourage her to write as I was taught to write many years ago. I too have a letter which I have kept from my granddad who lived in England. That letter is very precious to me as I never met him as I live in Canada. I do keep a diary and one day my grandchildren will be able to read them looking at my handwriting!!
That’s wonderful . . . and I love that your granddaughter is so interested — to them, handwriting is just like drawing birds! And they are so creative!
Susan, There is something special about “love you can hold in your hand.” I keep all my special old letters and reread them from time to time–thus keeping their caring gifts alive in my heart. What treasures they are–and what historical reminders of past “good moments.” I do not want to even imagine a world without letters, cards, and all the small reminders that someone, somewhere valued us enough to brighten our day.
Susan,
When I learned to write in cursive, the curves and loops were a life line between me and my teacher. Every improvement brought that sought after compliment from a lady who I thought made the world spin. As she wrote her name in cursive across the chalk board you would swear you could hear angels sing. So beautiful, so effortless and with such precision. I still find myself, at 45, practicing my signature and thinking of her.
Where would we be without our inspiring teachers!
Yes, Susan….handwriting is certainly an art! I love it! The little children in my Pre-school class are just early handwriters, and we practice every morning! xoxo Love that!
That makes a very sweet picture in my mind! Thanks Sherry!
You are so welcome Susan…and I’m so happy you back home in your little cute home! Loved every blog about gardens in England too…soooo inspiring…even though I have 2 little gardens…I am blessed to have them!xoxo
Hi Susan, I am a Kindergarten teacher who has always loved to write and print. I also see the wonderful art possibilities in every letter. When I print with my Kindergarten students, I’m filled with joy and tender amusement as the tongues stick out in concentration, and the little feet scramble under the desks: the braver ones start to make art with their letters round about April!
Love hearing that!!!
Love this post, because I love old-fashioned writing and letters and journals and recipes and love notes (paper sack, dry erase, chalkboard, fine stationery…). My girlfriend of 30 yrs and I have written back-and-forth all that time. Yesterday I got a nine-page letter in my mailbox, complete with her own stamped stationery. Darlingest!!! My very favorite pen is a MontBlanc vintage fountain pen. I lose it often and pray like crazy because I must not live without it.
It just fits in my hand so sweetly. Anyhoo, my next antiquing spree will be for a small basket with lid, so that I can copy your picture above, and have some of my old letters on my huge desk, reminding me I am loved! Yay! Ciao
I understand about loving certain pens! Good luck finding your perfect basket!
PS… Have you ever read this?
amazon.com/The-Long-Letter-Elizabeth-Spurr/dp/0786812028
No, is it good?
Oh, Thank you for the declaration! It is finally time to get Cursive and Hand Writing lifted up from their humiliating state. I am going to mark the date down in my calendar right now!
It’ll be Sunday…
We do still teach cursive in my school but it isn’t required that the students use it all the time. It is a shame that such beautiful writing seems to be going to the side.
Computers, the good, the bad, and the ugly! Love em and really don’t love em!
I say if you are going to teach cursive, make it fun. Read how we make cursive instruction fun at http://new-in-room-202.blogspot.com.
They “must” continue with hand writing, I was just thinking about this the other day! We will be reverting back in time…what would or wouldn’t their signature look like! Or would there even be a signature anymore! There will never be anything that can replace a hand written letter in the mail!!
Blessings,
Gert
Or diaries!
I am a teacher, and I am horrified at the idea of not teaching cursive anymore. We are getting so far away from the basics that children need to know. I see the effects of his every day. (I teach high school.) All of those seemingly insignificant things that we learned in school – nursery rhymes, songs, tricks for learning multiplication tables, and cursive writing – have fallen by the wayside and it is taking its toll on our kids. I love seeing beautiful handwriting, like in Susan’s books. Hopefully, some teachers will teach it anyway. We teachers often teach what we believeshould be taught, not just what we are told should be taught.
Good for you!!
I have always loved handwriting — and mine used to be so pretty! But now I have a tremor that makes my handwriting look so awful, it breaks my heart.
I’m so sorry! I keep hoping all the things I do to my hand won’t just wear it out.
I remember about 7th grade learning that some people wrote with a different handwriting than I had been taught–a cute back slant, very cute little circles to dot “i” with. Big fat puffy capital P’s. Oh what joy to try those! It was an artistic and individual expression. And to learn that I could create my own capital T, do a capital G like a small g only bigger. What freedom! What creativity! We not only write our minds, but the way we write expresses so much. I would hate to not have learned cursive handwriting! I can’t imagine adults promoting no handwriting!
fyi, January 23 is National Handwriting Day, in honor of John Hancock’s birthday who was the first signer of the Declaration of Independence. Write on!!
Write on Sandy! And I have to say, I almost changed my name to Suzi, just so I could dot the i with a heart!
I love it!!
Delighted to have come across a fellow lover of handwriting. What a lovely page. You’ll be glad to know that in England handwriting is still taught in schools (for the moment!). But I fear the time will come soon when it will be dropped in favour of keyboarding. In my part of England (Cumbria) local agricultural shows include arts and crafts competitions which incorporates handwriting.
Handwriting certainly is more personal than a typed letter.
Talking about cursive,i thought I would never learn to write quickly.
It was slow going for me.
Practice is always the key for anything artistic, even handwriting!
What a fun comment thread to read through. I am glad there are still people who believe handwriting is an art that holds value.
I’m sure it was my first connection … making pretty letters was just like drawing!