I heard on the  news that many schools have taken handwriting out of the school curriculum. I know my sister-in-law commented that she’s had to teach my niece and nephew how to write various cursive letters because they were not properly taught it in school. It’s all because we’ve gotten so heavily tied to our computers and smartphones.

I remember in high school practicing how to write my name.  (Then, later, dreamily practicing my name with my boyfriends-now-husband’s last name.) I remember finding new and exciting ways to write the letter “D.” To swoop or not to swoop?

I was jealous of my best friend, whose name started with an “L.” I thought L was the best letter ever to write back then. Those fabulous loops!  Ah! She was so LUCKY! (See? Another “L!”)

However, thank heavens my name didn’t start with a “J.” I still can’t write those halfway decent.

Today, I’ll go a long time without writing anything. Much like the schools, I rely on my computer or phone to do with writing for me. However, I still need to be able to write to fill out a check blank, or sign important documents. Sometimes its just easier to hand write a to do list and its more personal to hand write a letter.

I wish my handwriting were prettier. Much like in school, I still pout when I see someone with prettier handwriting than me. And much like a woman has “fat days” I have “good handwriting days.” Which is what spurred this tonight. Today was a good handwriting day. It made me happy to see as I wrote out various lists and notes to myself.

I can’t image not being able to identify yourself by your handwriting. I always thought it was a part of a person’s personality. (Heck do a Google search for handwriting and personality… lots of analysis of what handwriting says about you!) I love seeing an older person’s handwriting. At work, we deal with a lot of elderly clients, who have the most beautiful handwriting still today! We also deal with a lot of mid-twenties and below, who you need a secret decoder ring to decipher what they’ve written.

Our written word is so important to our culture and our generations. I pray we don’t lose that all together… all in the name of technology.