In the Beginning… Letters to Mom
I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to travel quite a bit over the years. When travelling, I’d send letters to my mother and my aunt, describing the trip. Over time, the letters became more elaborate and more frequent. They sort of took on a life of their own. To be able to say everything I wanted to say, I had to continue the series after returning home. I ended each letter with, “To be continued…”, and the next letter would pick up where the previous one ended. Eventually I settled into a routine of sending letters weekly, complete with photos and illustrations, whether we were actually travelling or in between trips.
My mother and aunt, who were both in their late nineties, made no secret that they really enjoyed the weekly letters. They were home-bound and didn’t have many other forms of entertainment. When I’d talk with either of them they’d say, “Keep those letters coming, OK?” My mother liked to tell me that she knew it was Wednesday because that was the day my letter would arrive. I was in deep!
I made a commitment to myself to “keep the letters coming” as long as there was someone there to enjoy them. Given their ages, I didn’t think I was signing up for long-term effort. As it turned out, my mother and aunt BOTH lived to see triple digits, so I wound up pumping out a lot of travel letters.
Everyone in our family likes to laugh, so the letters had their share of my attempts at humor. (Fortunately for me, the bar was set low). My mother liked maps, so I’d include a map of some sort whenever one was called for. Mom would get out the trusty old atlas that we’d had since I was born, and study a little bit about wherever we, (my wife and I), were.
In Mom’s later years, my sister relocated to be nearby and provided her with daily support. One of my sister’s jobs became that of letter reader. My sister, who may have missed her calling as a professional reader, would read the letters aloud to Mom. I’d insert some sort of dialogue, often in the appropriate foreign language, to give my sister something to work with. Her oral interpretations could be quite entertaining.
A Blog/Website?
We had a lot of fun with those letters. I’d like to think they added to my mother’s and aunt’s quality of life in their later years. They’ve both moved on now, and for some time I’d been thinking that with a little tweaking, I could make the letters available to others who no longer have the option of hitting the road themselves — or anyone else who might like them.
With that thought in mind, I decided to start making letters available on-line. My mother and aunt had no way of visiting the places I was writing about, so naming specific hotels, restaurants, etc., hadn’t been a priority. But as I started preparing posts, I realized I was omitting a wealth of potentially useful information, so I started putting travel details, comments, and recommendations in the pages titled “Travel Notes.”
About Me
It seems like I’ve always been writing one thing or another. I even started out as an English major in college, but the writing thing just wasn’t working for me. I opted for a technical major, graduated, and wound up working in aerospace. But whether my work called for it or not, looking back, I’ve always managed to find a way of having some kind of writing responsibility.
I like languages, too. My experience is that it’s true what they say: people love to hear their own language. (Even if it’s being butchered, apparently). I’ve managed to learn some french, italian, and a little portuguese over the years. I’ve found that knowing even just a little can add so much to a visit to a foreign country.
I’m new to the blog/website business. I wanted to learn the basics first-hand, so for better or for worse, I’ve done everything on this site myself. I offer my apologies in advance for errors and malfunctions lurking on these posts and pages. My goal is to get this blog/website up and running, then post about one letter per week. Who knows? Maybe someday someone else’s mother or aunt might look forward to receiving their own weekly travel letter.
Don at Travel Letter
Updated 1/24/2019
donattravelletter@gmail.com
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