Red Letter Days

I chanced upon my old red box when I was busy looking for something else. I haven't seen it for the longest time and have no idea what was in it so I opened it anyway. I carefully lifted its cover and out came a flood of memories of those days between 1988 and 1993.



There were cards, notes and letters from friends from everywhere: some from my cousin and childhood bff Ron whose family migrated to Canada in the late 80's; a lot from my a.w.e.s.o.m.e. barkada in U.P., particularly Jeorgia who would keep touch even during Christmas and sem breaks; a thick bundle from Reg, also an a.w.e.s.o.m.e. friend, who would tirelessly write to me while she was away in Canada after graduation; a few from my MassComm friend Peach; another major bundle from my high school best friend Josette who moved to the US after college; some from my Chicago-based friends Mabette and Rambo; and many others from many other friends.


I furiously read one letter after another until I finished reading almost all of them. I was laughing so hard my eyes turned misty. It was like a big re-acquaintance party with old friends I haven't seen or heard from since God-knows-when. There was a myriad of long-forgotten stories; I couldn't help but be a trifle sentimental.


I remember at one point in time, the letters stopped coming in and I didn't even notice. It is sad to think now that I haven't received a single letter or card from the mail in more than 10 years. And I realize I have written no letters nor mailed any cards maybe since the early 90's. Letter writing seems to belong to another age nowadays. The world wide web is slowly but surely snuffing the life out of this old-fashioned but beautiful form of exchange between friends, and ironically, it is also this same web that has salvaged whatever is left of ties we have somehow failed to keep—thanks to Facebook, Multiply and so on. Those days of writing and mailing are over and I sure hope the same is not true about the friendships.