Written Words

"Without knowing the force of words, it is impossible to know more."   Confucius

Yesterday one of my sisters ( I have three of them), informed me that a friend of ours, father had passed away. It was very sudden, a massive heart attack.  My first response was how tragic as he was only 70 years old. This thought brought me to remember when my father died at the age of 62, suddenly a shiver went down my arms. Losing a parent is never easy, if they die quickly or after a long illness. I realized that it really was about being reminded of my own morality.
I went on facebook and saw a picture that had been posted of him, so full of life, standing with one of his grand-daughters.  My first instinct was to leave a comment expressing my sympathy, then it dawned on me how impersonal that seemed. Unfortunately social media is used too often for these personal moments. I feel that I would be cheating by just sending a note on facebook.  After all he was someones father, hudsband, grandfather, brother and friend of others.  I decided that sending a hand written note would be a better choice.
My sister said she was going to make and delivery dinner to the family (another lost tradition most people, including myself, don't do any more).  I went to the local card store to get a card and was confronted with rows and rows of cards for every occasion.  As I walked over to the sympathy card section, I passed a women reading juvenile birthday cards and laughing out loud about the humor she read in these innocent cards.  It reminded me how this world is losing the personal touch when social media replaces human feelings of warmth and comfort of the written word.
I selected my card and walked out of the store with a smile thinking of the note I was going to write and the thought that a hand written not was not so old-fashion after all.