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. 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 teaches them.
I think 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.
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.
And for sure, this would look very different if it wasn’t handwritten; my favorite book I ever wrote; the diary of our adventure in England. Sure it could be typed, but I love all the mess in this diary, it’s real, with crossed out lines and misspellings and lots of exclamation points!!!! I tried to make this first page neat, within reason, I didn’t have a ruler, but inside it looks more like my other diaries:
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?
I’ve been keeping a diary on and off since I was nine, and constantly since I was thirty. These are probably the most embarrassing items I own. They’re bare bones, pathetically truthful, “scream of consciousness;” running the gamut of emotional health from A to B and will all have to be burned one day. They know too much. I never thought about “writing” when I wrote them, which is too bad; I would have liked to see myself wax poetic! I left out lots of details and told things that no sane person would ever tell. Because I wasn’t thinking!!! This is the truth, there was no thinking going on!!!
I was a gut-spiller in my diaries, and yet, they are part of me and my life, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, I am married to them. I bought my House of Creativity inside those pages! Our Christmases are there. My kitty, Pooh, died there. I moved to Martha’s Vineyard inside those books, wrote my first cookbook and met Joe. And without cursive, all that important stuff would be lost!
And you know what else? Without cursive, here would be no more of these!!
So I’m declaring this day, March 10th, “I Love Cursive Day,” and in honor of the celebration I am giving away not one, but three, things that will exercise your cursivity and leave a little herstory for the folks in 3012, who are apparently going to need it.
First off, I’ll send the winner of our drawing a package of these How to Be Happy Notecards. So she can send a little note to someone she loves, and put it on paper to last forever. ♥
In addition, the package will contain a signed copy of my new Grandma, Tell Me Your Story book. I wish so much I had one of these when my Grandma was alive; there are lots of family memories lost forever. I would have loved to know more details of her childhood. I never did hear about her favorite dress. ♥
The book is lined, and filled with good questions for a Grandma to answer, the ones I would have liked to ask; “real” ones, such as “Did you ever leave school without permission?” And, “Did you like to dance; did your dances have names? Who taught you the steps?” (That’s where I would write that my first dance partner was our refrigerator door handle!) When finished, this book will be something a family will cherish forever. If the winner isn’t a Grandma, I’m sure she will know one or have one and it will make a wonderful gift!
♥ ♥ ♥
And last but not least, this. It’s my newest recipe keeper, and I’ll be signing this one too. It’s smaller than our three-ring-binder-recipe-keepers which means it would be a quicker project to put together; the letter stickers come with it so you can add a name on the cover; you just fill in the recipe pages with your favorite family recipes, gathered in one place, to save forever, perfect for a newly wed daughter or son.
To enter the drawing for all three items, you have to be actually on my website, which most of you are (some people have the blog emailed to them via subscription, which means there is no comment button; if that’s you, just go to www.162.240.10.175/~susanbs3/susanbranch/) and leave a comment by clicking the word “comment” at the bottom of this post. That’s all, and in a few days, charmingly talented “Vanna,” our in-house random number generator, will choose a winner. Join my quest to save the cursive! And have a wonderful weekend girlfriends!
X O X O X O
I too, love the emotions that just touching a letter or postcard from my mother or grandmother evoke. They are gone, but to see their cursive handwriting makes my heart skip a beat. Thank you, Susan for helping us keep in touch with so many feelings.
Bunny hugs to you and yours,
Shirley
Oh, the sadness at the thought of no cursive writing, I just can’t imagine it. When I turned eight in 1965 we moved from LA to Arcadia, CA, home of the Santa Anita racetrack. I was in third grade, and they were already well in to learning cursive. My former school hadn’t started teaching us yet. So I received my very first C ever on any report card. Being the type A personality that I am, I was crushed. Needless to say, handwriting became my mission and next time out an A shone on my report card. I have always been proud of my handwriting, silly as that may be, but it’s the earliest memory I have of striving to improve myself and succeeding, and that has stuck with me all these years. Happy Cursive Writing Day everyone!
You touched my heart again today! I too used to get A’s in handwriting and I have been hearing about the movement to do away with cursive which breaks my heart. So many things are digital and technical that even most thank yous are not written but on facebook. It isn’t the same kind of communication and that is not always a good thing at all. I too have a favorite recipe of my mom’s in her handwriting that I prize. Soon they’ll continue to do away with spelling and grammar as on essential in this digital age-look at what is published these days for the in print errors. I didn’t mean this to be such a rant-I just feel strongly about this topic.
Susan, I love, love, love this post!!! (love them all, actually) but, especially when it comes to handwriting/lettering – a HUGE passion of mine too. I’ve amassed quite the collection of journals, stationary, paper and stickers. Have kept journals for years and have been designing cards for quite a while too. There is nothing like the feeling of opening the mailbox to a hand-addressed envelope. It’s a GIFT! I usually sit with a cuppa and savor every word. We need to start a movement to KEEP cursive alive. A great deal of your handwriting has and continues to inspire me on my creative journey. Thanks Susan for all the beauty you share and create. Hugs & love, Jeanette
Collecting old postcards and ephemera has the added bonus of not only an image but a window into the past from the handwriting styles (as varied as the people) to content. It is amazing how you get a visual image of the past and how they lived that you will never get out of a book. I have read about the diseases of the day, animals they cherished, lost and found love –just to name a few. If the children of today lose the ability to write, as a species we may evolve with no arms and possibly no legs as they sit at their computers & toys. Parents need to take a more active part in developing all these things they are losing. Sad and a cheat to them.
Hi Susan
Loved your blog on cursive, letters, diarys. My penmanship is atrocious, so I admire anyone who can write as you can. I have a 26 year old granddaughter who could greatly use a “Grandmother Book” to look back on. Thank you for the gift I might win, Jean
I also love and enjoy the art of letter writing! When I was in college I went on “exchanged” to England and my mom kept all of my letters from my many adventures there. I love rereading them and also letters from my parents during my college years.
I made a very close friend in Winchester England and we exchanged letters for 10 years until she lost her battle with cancer. I have just discovered those letters while cleaning out our celler. After rereading all those letters, I have decided to send them to my friend’s daughter. She needs to read all the wonderful things her mom had said about her as she was growing up. These letters are so full of memories for her and you can feel her mom’s pride and love with each word.
I have begun a scrapbook that contains pictures and letters from family and friends including those that have passed on. It’s a wonderful way to remember them and their love.
What a beautiful gift the letters will be for her daughter!!
Hello Susan! I loved your most recent blog entry…and before that I loved the March page on your calendar that hangs in my kitchen. When I opened to March I saw the familiar Palmer Method Alphabet and was immediately transported back to 4th grade at Sacred Heart Grammar School where we were taught the Palmer Method Penmanship. My claim to fame is that I won the Gold Medal for the writing contest in 4th grade and still have the handwritten letters that my classmates wrote to me to congratulate me AND I still have my Gold Medal. Right up to the current day, people always say what beautiful handwriting I have and I giggle. But the real giggles I’ve had lately are 2 stories from my workplace (a high school) where 1 student asked me to write something because they heard I had very nice “cursive”. So I wrote her name in my very best penmanship and she just ooooohed and aaaaaahed and said “Can I keep this?” like it was some wonderful prize!!!! The other giggle story is from one of my co-workers (he was actually a student when I first started working at the high school over 16 years ago!) had to call me up because he couldn’t read my writing on an address lable that was being sent out by courier (of course, I used my very best for such an occasion!). I laughed and he wanted to know what was so funny and I told him how everyone thinks my handwriting is so beautiful. He said “it is beautiful but I’m a tech guy and look at print all day long, I can’t read it!” I was just in amazement that we are getting to a point where this is possible! Well, thanks for letting me share these tiny anecdotes about a lost art.
Funny!
I have recipe cards from my deceased mother, written in her handwriting ,that I put on a kitchen Christmas tree!!!! When we see her writing, we can almost see her face and see her preparing the recipes….Gloria
I love this idea!! What a beautiful way to honor your mom’s memory!
Calligraphy is what I learned in high school…..loved going to buy a bottle of ink for my fountain pen!!!! That was in the 60’s……..
Hi Susan!! =) I look so forward to your blog, it always inspires me!! Have a beautiful weekend!! =)
As always, loved your post. Especially interesting for me was the fabric covering on your diaries…my daughter has a quilt made out of a couple of them, the green stripe with the delicate flowers and the pink with white/cream hearts. Dating the fabrics to yours is especially interesting.
I, too, think it is sad that cursive is being phased out of school lessons. I enjoyed your post so much and you always think of the most enchanting gifts to share in your celebrations. Thanks heaps!
Susan,
Just loved, loved your post on cursive handwriting. I work in an elementary school and I do believe we should keep on teaching cursive. I have a collection of my mother-in-law’s letters and my mom’s that they have written us over the years. My mother-in-law has since passed away, but I treasure the handwritten notes. I also have some recipes a great-aunt had written on scraps of paper. I love the memories it brings of seeing her handwriting. I also have a prayer book with my great grandmother’s name in it, written in her own handwriting. Love, love all this old “paper” stuff. I kept journals during my teenage years and they are certainly a hoot to re-read now! To think what was important to me back then! We need to treasure these precious handwritten items, they tell so much about us!
How will people sign important documents without cursive? An X? How horrible to think. I love to write and love all the little curliques and circles and humps. I still sit at times and write the alphabet in cursive both caps and small letters and enjoy the process. I remember Mrs. Farmer who taught us to write each letter precisely and copy it over and over and over again. She would walk around the room and look at our writing and comment on it. I love receiving handwritten letters and sending them. I hope this is just a tiny blip in history where some schools will get it wrong, but all the rest will continue to teach cursive. What if all the computers in the world go down????
This was such a fun blog post! I, too, was horrified when I heard they were going to quit teaching cursive handwriting in schools! My question is, how will the future generation have their own signature if they don’t know cursive?? I’ve always loved writing and receiving letters and keep a journal, too. Never thought my handwriting was anything special, however. But I understand what you mean by future generations treasuring handwritten notes,etc. Now that my Mom is gone, I treasure old recipes, letters and postcards she wrote to me, now, more than ever! I wish I would have kept my BFF’s letters to me when I moved to across the country just before starting high school. They would be a real hoot to read now! I was just going through a box of old Birthday cards from friends and family that I’ve kept over the years. Just can’t bring myself to get rid of those! Thanks so much for taking us down memory lane with you! 🙂
Susan, I, too, have heard that cursive is no longer going to be taught in schools and if that happens it will be another terrible lost art. I always admired my mother’s beautiful penmanship and strived to have penmanship as pretty as hers. I still have some of her old recipe cards and letters she sent to me and I love to look at them and see her in her beautiful handwriting. At the same time, I just as much enjoy looking at cards or letters I received from my father. We always joked with him that his handwriting looked like he wrote Chinese! But I always managed to figure out his words. I’m right there with you declaring March 10th “I Love Cursive Day!” Write on!!!
Oh Susan Darling, that was what drew me to love you was all your wonderful writing! The way you write, I love! So do you change and try new ways? I love to think about how we all got to where we are today in our learning cursive. I loved tracing and finding new ways to make different letters. I have also had a knack for writing backwards, something I taught myself to do as a child… I asked my art teacher about it and she said try writing backwards and upside down, now that is a stretch for me… Anyway enjoyment is really the key. Yeah for Cursive Day !!!!
Susan,
Like so many people our age, I hate to think of the disappearance of cursive writing. So much school work is done by computer now that the kids won’t grow up being able to write legibly by hand. To me, even printing is better than computer print. I have recipes in my grandmother’s writing. I have always wondered why writing from her time looked different from our writing. A magazine article recently said that part of it was that they used fountain pens in those days and the writing was thinner, some would say spidery. The article also said that fountain pens are coming back into fashion. Isn’t it a treat now to receive a handwritten letter from a friend? With everyone sending emails or texts, how do the stationary companies stay in business?
Kathy in Los Angeles
Thank you for your lovely thoughts on writing. I became an elementary school teacher in my mid-50’s so I am definitely “old school”. So far, cursive is still taught in my school district. I’ll be sad to see it go someday.
I’d like to order the notecards you are giving away–just in case I don’t win! I know some girlfriends who would enjoy receiving one!
Spring has arrived in southern California. Hope it finds everyone else soon!
I can’t write in cursive very well at all, but I have been thinking of starting a journal. I think it would be hard because I’m not sure if I would want others to read my thoughts after I’m gone. I mean, how truthful and open should one really be when writing in her journal? In any case, I love the thought of doing it 🙂
I’m sure everyone is different — when I was writing mine I never really thought that anyone would read it, it was all for me. That’s probably the good news and the bad all rolled into one. I don’t know why you would keep a diary if you weren’t planning to tell the truth. But you don’t have to tell the whole truth if you don’t want to.
I have kept a journal since the breakup of my first marriage. It was through the pages that I sifted out what was really at the heart of the issue and how I felt about it. The simple act has continued since, almost 23 years. There are times I have written several times a day and others where I’ve gone months without an entry. My journals have ranged from beautiful books to dime-store notebooks.
Several years ago I started writing letters to God. He already knows everything I’m thinking so he won’t be offended by what I have to say. I can be completely free.
I attempt to be completely honest with myself and God when I write for what is the use if I’m lying to myself. There have been times that I have been less than honest, more because I was concerned with who might snoop and what I didn’t want them to read (never hiding my journal). Those entries were less than fulfilling.
Have people read my journal. I think so. I’m sure that at some point my daughter went through a phase the she did. Its a matter of trust though and we have never talked about it. Do I want someone going through them, not while I’m alive. Once I’m dead, what difference does it make. I can’t be embarrassed and its a record of who I am, that I lived and worried and grew.
Try it – you have nothing to loose and great satisfaction and contentment to gain. Good Luck
Loved it! Love cursive!
I loved this post. I too was shocked that school boards (even here in Canada) were thinking about removing cursive writing from the curriculum. I own a small Montessori preschool where the children (ages 2 1/2 to 6) are taught cursive before print. When children begin to scribble, their movements are often loopy continuous motions similar to the motions used in cursive writing. It is more natural for them than the stick and ball motions used when printing letters. They also do not have issues with letter identification and reversals such as the ‘b’ and ‘d’ in print as the cursive letters for ‘b’ and ‘d’ are more distinct. When reading words in cursive, children are better able to distinguish where a word begins and ends as the letters in a word are joined together. This control of error does not exist in print. My little ones do not have any trouble deciphering print or cursive words, whereas children who are taught print first often find cursive difficult. I often wonder if future generations of children are going to be taught to print at all or if they will simply go straight to texting and tablets.
Interesting! Thank you Lorraine!
tHANK yOU vANNA, i Mean Susan…….for the sweet give-away….
This lady would welcome the sweetness….
Remember me vANNA, i mEAN SUSAN…..
jOYFULLY,
sYLVIA fAYE
Oh Susan, what a lovely post. Thank you. And it does bring about some memories. I was taught cursive in a catholic grade school. Our hands would get cramps in them, but the nuns would make us continue to write which seemed forever and ever :). Growing up, I loved writing to my girlfriends and pen pals and my cousins who lived far away. I always made sure my son writes his thank you notes and never, never texts or emails a thank you note….taking a pen to paper is so important. I have some old letters that my father wrote my mother when he was in the Korean war. A few days after they got married he was shipped off to war. So these letters are a treasure. So here’s to celebrating “I Love Cursive Day”.
Debbie R in Valencia, California
I enjoy trying different styles of lettering.
I was born in Long Beach, California at St. Mary’s Hospital in 1946. I came home to Easy Avenue in Long Beach, California. When I was 5 years old Dad, Mom, my younger brother and I moved to Woodland Lane in Garden Grove, California.
Reading about how schools are no longer teaching cursive made me remember sitting at the kitchen table with Daddy helping me get the shape of my letters just right. There are many letters and notes that I wish I had kept. For years my Mom kept letters I sent to her and then she returned them to me in scrapbook form. It was great to have a diary of raising our children while living here in Iowa. Your blog is great. Makes me feel like I am sitting down and chatting with a dear friend.
You lived on Easy Avenue, I lived on Park Avenue, it sounds like we lived in a Monopoly Game! You went to Woodland Lane in Garden Grove, we went to Woodland Hills!
Here in N.C. cursive handwriting is not taught any longer. This is so sad!!!
I have always loved to write. Caligraphy caught my eye many years ago and now I sometime take out pen and ink and address a card in the copperplate style. They say that one’s handwriting can describe what kind of person we are. I believe your handwriting would tell me that you are gifted, loving, kind, generous,and would make the best friend!
I have some recipes from my grandmothers, aunts, and friends. They are all dear and I would not take anything for them. They have not been signed, But I can tell who gave them to me by just the handwriting. For the last few years,every year my grandmother sent me a recipe in her own handwriting for my birthday. They were the best birthday presents a granddaughter could receive.
Thanks for the give a way and I would love to win.
Oh, Susan, what would I do without you? I cry every time I read your blog, and I laugh through my tears at the endearing words you share, for YOU truly get what matters! I taught myself ‘how’ to write in a Spencerian style of Calligraphy when I was just 11 years old. I remember my mom being fascinated that I picked it up so quickly. We were sort of on the poor side and that Christmas when I opened my very first Schaeffer Calligraphy set, one pen, 3 nibs and black,, red and green ink – I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Everyone got something hand-written from me as fast as I could write, and I remember my mom giving me pennies to buy an 8 cent stamp (and I am only 47 years old – can you believe a stamp is so expensive now) I am still doing Calligraphy as a professional scribe for weddings, and special occassions and still love to print, and write in my journals in cursive. I, for sure, am an old soul. Why do we keep changing history and doing away with things that matter? You are so right about what will it be like 50 years from now with all of the technology. I am also a photo historian, and have had a Creative Memories scrapbooking business for over 14 years. People have paid me to write in their albums, and I try to implore them that I would love to do a title page, but that their handwriting speaks THEIR voice and someday people will want to connect with them thru what they’ve written. It is very hard to convince people to write. Why does everyone want everything to be perfect. I have a few recipes and gift tags and a bible coloring book given to me from my maternal grandma and grandpa, and I cherish them. The ink on the coloring book from 1970 us just about faded. I have dabbled with making cards and selling them, or writing poems and qoutes and watercoloring in my style but I just don’t know how, and am not really good at the marketing side of things, no business sense but lot’s of creative juices. I have always admired that you’ve been successful at both. I know you don’t do it all alone~ lucky you! I live vicariously thru all of your stuff, use it in all of my scrapbooks, collect all of your books and was just lucky enough to snag and original of Vineyard Seasons from a friend on Alibris – she knew it was the only book of yours that I didn’t have and she found it for me. I love her. Hurrray for Lucia – each year we buy each other your calendars too! Well, I just wanted to say that my dream is to meet you. I travel a lot to Nantucket and was hoping to take a day trip to the Vineyard this Spring and look for you. I know that we all want to be your friend, and we all feel like you are our friend and that we know you personally – but that is what life is all about, Remembering, Connecting and Celebrating Life! You make each of my days brighter – for I see your calendars, look through your books, cut up your old stuff and make little things with them and share you with everyone that will listen. You are an amazing person and I am so grateful that God gave you these gifts of words and art and now your blog -it’s truly the best part of my day. Hugs! Vicki
Thank you so much Vicki, xoxo that was just beautiful.
Dearest Susan,
A friend of mine turned me on to your blog just 3 weeks ago! What a special find! I read your blogs faithfully. Your website store is stocked with so many special things. After I read about the bunny room, I just had to have a copy of the tiny, tiny Beatrice Potter Peter Rabbit book. It is in my bunny room (which is also my guest room). I stray….The topic is cursive. As with so many of you other girlfriends comments, I too love and have saved all the special notes and letters I’ve received from family and friends. I enjoy rereading them on rainy days. They cheer me up.
I am very fortunate to have some hand written recipes from my grandmother and mother. A very special one is Grandma’s recipe for her wonderful opera cream candies. Gram never shared it with any of “the girls”, her group of best friends whom she refered to as “the girls with grandma faces”. So I am very fortunate to have her hand written recipe.
E-mails are OK and they serve a purpose, but they’ll never replace cursive notes and letters. They just aren’t as personal.
Thank you for making your blog so personal by including little snippets of cursive, and your beautiful printing and the little art squiggles throughout. I’m glad you refer to your readers as girlfriends because I feel you’ve become a friend of mine through your blog.
Sincerely, Anne
And vice versa Anne, we’re all in this together! xoxo
I loved this post, Sue.
What I think is especially sad about the thought of schools not teaching cursive (or art) anymore is that, some children who have creativity within them depend on schools to bring it out, because their parents are too busy, or neglectful, to recognize and nourish that part of them.
I’m so glad your artistic self was nourished, because you inspire so many people.
When I first got a book of yours, it was a huge Aha! moment for me, because, just like you said in this post, I realized there was someone out there making a living doing what I love!
Thank you for having the courage to paint that first book, and look for a publisher. It lead to so many, many wonderful things!
Lots of love,
Dawn
Thank you Dawn! It’s all been a wonderful surprise, unfolding as it did, and still does!
Barbara from Lodi, CA
I personally envy your ability to keep a diary. I have always been afraid to write down all those thoughts and that someone might find it and read it! But I keep letters and cards, and I still write them, too. I wrote one to my best friend yesterday and my poor, sore hands seemed to know it was for her and my handwriting looked normal. My Mother is 97 and has the most beautiful handwriting as all people of her age usually do. Both my sister and I are left handed and our Mother had to threaten my sister’s teacher to leave her alone and let her use her left hand! We both had great handwriting when we were younger! : -)
Are you left handed Sue? Sometimes your letters have a definate tilt to the left and I wondered!
Sorry I have rambled on….I do want to win!
I’m right handed, probably depends on if I have my paper straight!
I recently discovered letters my dad had written every week to his mother while he was in the Air Force in the mid-50’s. They were all neatly in a box wrapped in string by the months. They are all written in cursive with an ink fountain pen. My dad and grandmother are both gone. I love having this piece of them with me.
What a wonderful discovery! I’m sure you are cherishing them!
I agree….how nice to have a piece of the past !
There’s just one word that comes to mind every time I hear about the schools doing away with cursive – INSANE!!! I wonder if the person who thought this idea up was related to the one who came up with the “new math” that was such a disaster. It’s bad enough no one under 30 seems to be able to make correct change, but now the kids won’t even know how to write their own name. There is definitely a connection between the brain and the hand. If you’ve ever written stream of conciuosness as suggested in The Artist Way you know that things come out in writing that you are not even aware are a concern to you until you go back weeks later and read what you wrote.
Okay, enough ranting and venting. This post is wonderful, as all your posts are. Thanks again for being you. Oh and by the way, I received my first Gladys Taber newsletter in the mail yesterday – thanks for the introduction to this wonderful writer.
My pleasure!!
Thank former President George W. Bush for the elimination of teaching handwriting. Elementary schools now use that time to “teach to the test” due to the high-stakes accountability of No Child Left Behind. (I taught in a school where recess was eliminated for that same reason!)
It’s so frustrating when politicians make decisions for their own purposes and don’t even consult educators or the parents of the children. It is developmentally inappropriate to put 8 – 12 year old children under that type of high stress!
Sue in Lewisville, TX
There are so many things we can thank him for.
My dad had beautiful penmanship. I always strived to have mine look good but it was never close to his. I think I remember him telling that penmanship was taught every single day when he was in school – he was born 99 years ago in 1913!
So enjoyed your post today. Thank you, Norma from Wylie, Texas.
My mother-in-law had the most beautiful handwriting. She is gone now, but when I run across something with her handwriting I think of how careful and meticulous she was about it. She was very proud of her handwriting. We miss her. I wish I had her (and your) talent.
Susan,
I think it is an abomination that teaching penmanship will soon be a thing of the past. Even with technology so readily available, we still need to be able to communicate with the WRITTEN word. Spelling is also suffering in the techno age. I too have many handwritten diaries (40 years worth!) that will have to burned. 🙂 However would I stay sane if I couldn’t pour out my soul on the smooth pages of a lovely book. And those wonderful cursive curlyques are my expression of happiness and grief, rainy days and glorious sunshiny ones, big events and little moments. I even compose my newspaper column with pen and paper before typing and emailing in.
Getting my daily Susan branch keeps me so happy- just to share that I too have a treasure that my dad left to me and this is a little black book of poems and little stories he would write himself about me as a little girl and would turn every phase of my years into a wonderful story and later when my two boys were born he did the same for them. What a treasure of a book I now have. Let’s all leave our love ones some written treasures that we created just for them specifically, what a gift, and Susan thank you for all you do to send us daily gifts of yourself.
Thank you back Carolyn!
Thank all of you! I’m loving reading your comments. . . can’t answer every one as you can see, but I’m laughing and recognizing myself in so many of your comments!!
Hi Susan!! I always look forward to reading your stories. You have such a full rich and wonderful life. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. Your gifts would make a sweet Birthday surprise for me , Ill be 68 on the 14th…….OH MY!!!! where has the time flown ????
You’re like an old friend…….
Happy Birthday Anne. Joe and I were just talking about this winter, it went so fast!
I love cursive and wish that it was being taught in schools. Kids just scribble now. I love computers, emails, blogs, but I really love a handwritten letter on pretty paper that I can read over and over. Keep up the good work
Hi Susan! I just need these prizes!! I’m a new gram, have a new daughter-in-law, and love my husband’s cooking!! I taught myself cursive because I didn’t want to wait until third grade started. So, over the summer before school started, I wrote. I did pretty well except I didn’t know anything about punctuation! So my first letter to my gram was all one sentence! She treasured it and saved it her entire life. I now have it and will save it for my new granddaughter, Daphne. As always, thanks for all you do!
Susan! You are “simply the best!” You always seem to pick the perfect subjects to share with us and stir our personal memories. I take great pride in my penmanship style and letter/card selection. I then like to choose a coordinating postage stamp, return address label, stickers and seal as I feel it is a reflection of me and my joy of creativity. I was given the love of keeping in touch and sending letters from my mother. Being a secretary, she typed her letters but I always did mine by hand. I love old letters, cancellations, stamps and all things postal. I even have a “Letters Mingle Souls” charm bracelet I put together with little sterling silver letter charms, post office boxes, writing utensils, typewriter, old stamps and more. It is one of my favorites. Thank you for reminding me of the past and wonderful memories!
I also got my best marks in penmanship. I love handwriting notes, and even when letters are typed, I’ll add a personal note in script. My saddest day when I lost my bestest, favorite fountain pen – I have small hands and this one was weighted and fit my hand perfectly. I have not found one like it, yet -in ten years- that’s how picky I am!
To win these items would be a blessing … to friends who would get little framed “How to Be Happy” prints, to my family who would get a book of my treasured recipes, and to my 94 year young mom who is at the end of her story and would love to share it with her grandkids. Thanks, Susan, for your amazing insight, inspiration and generosity. You epitomize the John Wesley quote: “Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can.” ♥♥ from Phoenix where its a perfect 72 degree winter day. (THIS weather is what makes it bearable to live here in the summer:) )
Dear Susan….congratulations on your “A ” in handwriting ! I am so impressed ! As a graduate of 12 years of Catholic School the Sisters instilled in me a love of the Palmer Method….and alas, often told me my penmanship was too “curley que”! I still correspond ( at least at Christmas now ) with my former Spanish Teacher…she is 90….the last letter I had from her was done with beautiful penmanship…despite arthritis. I remember a little booklet I got in High School when I bought Eaton writing paper ( see, I did not write stationary because I am never sure which what to spell it….) and it had ideas about sending letters. I rememberd it said you are to present your best self…paper, penmanship, etc., when you are visiting by mail. And I share your love of the written word….wish I had been better about keeping up journals over the years, but am inspired to write again. And just LOVE letters….my one friend in Kentucky always write letters….and we both know to get a cup of tea and sit when we visit by mail. We often comment that we are glad to have each other to enjoy this …is is a dying art. And I feel bad for everyone who only has emails to remember, because you can’t really keep them. I just love reading the letters from old boyfriends and still keep them in a box in the basement. I adore reading the letters and cards my husband and I shared in our courtship….I think the people today are missing out. We did not even have phones in our dorm rooms, let alone cell phones…and the JOY and BLISS is getting a letter was such a treat as we thought Long Distance phone calls were too expensive as we saved for “someday” ! Those letters are tied in ribbon in a special box….to me and from me. I have to avoid the box during Spring Cleaning – if I don’t the next thing I know the cleaning stops and I am on the floor with a cup of tea and tears in my eyes. And seeing my Aunt Mamie’s recipe for nutroll in her own hadwriting brings her love back to me in an instant. So, THANK YOU….for keeping the handwriting traditon alive. As I sit down this evening to write out thank you notes for my birthday gifts this past week, I will be careful to use my best penmanship….and hope I win one of your gifts !
I hope so too Ann!
What a great post! I have many treasured notes handwritten from my late Husband, and recipes written in my Nanan’s handwriting. My Grammie sent me lots of letters when I moved to the “wilds” of Colorado in 1987, and I have her wedding announcement sent to friends written in my Great-Grandmother Lois’ own hand! Writing is still so very important to me! Please enter me too!
I love letters…especially love letters! Thank you as always Susan!
Hey Susan….
I was so saddened too when I saw that article about eliminating cursive from the school, that would truly be a shame.
I have written in journals for years and it is such a joy to me ; the pen to paper thing. I too have always said to my kids and family that they are there to read when I am gone, but you might not always like what you read 🙂 When I journal it takes me to such a nice place.
I agree too that having someone’s handwriting is a gift 🙂 belongs to us alone!
Thanks for your latest blog…thoroughly enjoyed it and I hope to be the winner of your drawing! ~ what a treat that would be! xo Love, Raenell
Cursive writing and learning it is a life’ s rite of passage. As a second grade teacher I see my kids each year dying to learn cursive. It was taken out of the curriculum this year but we still teach it at our school. Personally I have just started writing daily in a gratitude journal again. I did it years ago when my friend Cathy ( ethel) was going through cancer treatments. We shared our journals and they got us through that horrible time. I stopped writing. Don’t know why. But during Christmas vacation I was cleaning and ran across them. What a joy to read them again. So I went out that day and got a new journal and started writing. Boy the older ya get the more you realize how much ther is to be grateful for. Your blogs for one. Enjoy the weekend. Lucy
Oooo! What a wonderful treat… and all to celebrate Cursive Writing! Every now and then a letter arrives in our mailbox that is handwritten. As soon as I see the envelope, I can already tell who it is from! The writer’s style of the letters is as familiar to my heart as their face, or the sound of their voice. Past memories flood my mind before I can even get the letter opened! As another girlfriend wrote, it is their unique thumbprint. I just recently got rid of some old letters from friends. How I wish I could have them back again 🙂
Yes, please include me and my hopes in this drawing. MyBFF from third grade is a new grandma now. On the other hand, I have no children… Our lives are so different but we are joined in our hearts. I would love to give this book to her. I would totally ENJOY the writing my keepsake recipes in the cookbook! Oh, and the notecards would be a blessing multiplied and used to send sunshine and smiles!
Long Live Cursive Penmanship… and writing.
Georgie – Yardville, NJ
Thank-You Susan!
Once again it’s been enjoyable reading today’s blog … it’s like chatting with an old friend everyday 🙂
Years ago my mother-in-law introduced me to the art of keeping a diary …. I would start one, then not pick it up again for several months or more. About 5 years ago, I began journaling in earnest and have continued keeping it up. On the right page I write the journal entry; on the left side I tape in the little tidbits that I’d like to save … notes from grandbabies, recipes, doodles, newspaper articles, cartoons, theater tickets … etc, etc, etc.
Thank you for “visiting” 🙂
We have a family recipe that my mother wrote in her beautiful delicate cursive script in about 1973. Her grandchildren (my nieces and nephews) still ask me for color copies, complete with my notes and splotches, and so more and more families enjoy Cranbrosia with their Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. And that’s a good thing.
Susan Branch ~ We all love your handwriting AND what you have to say. 🙂 I’m writing from Okemos, Michigan (in the center of the mitten)… I’ve always loved the “art” of making letters, as a young girl I loved forming the letters, experimenting with what “style” of cursive or printing I wanted for my personal own. I still enjoy cursive and printing. Because of you, I now feel justified with my little love! ALSO, I received my first newsletter today from Friends of Gladys Taber!!! Thank you for bringing her to my world. I just ordered my third Gladys Taber book. So talented, poetic and wise. I can see why you often quote her!
It would be so sad to lose the lovely script known as cursive. I remember learning it and thinking I was finally entering the grown up world. Your wonderful books and such just wouldn’t be the same without your “signature” writing. Everytime I see it, all the alarms of love go off–and I run to see what it is. My daughter got me the special red”Susan Branch” tin that has all the different note cards in it, for Christmas this year. I adore it! Really hoping I might be blessed enough to be chosen for these treasures too. SOOOO looking forward to fall and that new book! Blessings to you from Wichita, KS.
….My daughters have always told me they love my handwriting….and also love my handwritten labels on canisters in the kitchen, and on pattern boxes in my sewing room….but what all of us love is to open up the refrigerator and find Mom’s latest inspirational quotes inside! (where everyone is sure to read them, and be encouraged by them.) It is another way to add beauty to our days….thanks for sharing! I love reading books of letters….now I have a few more to add to my list! Thanks, Susan!
Such a wonderful post today….thank you so much. I adore writing….thank you notes, get well wishes, cards that just mean “I thought of you today!” and all of the things that most people today just brush aside. I think of them as the things that make this world a much sweeter place to be! Thanks for all that you do to inspire us!
I oved this post! I am a letter writer from way back, in fact I still keep in touch with a penpal that I had when I was a senior in high school almost 40 years ago! My mother taught my sisters and I that you never send a store bought greeting card without adding a personal, handwritten note and how would you do that without cursive? I work in a school district that for a while taught kindergarteners how to write in cursive, but that has since gone by the wayside and that saddens me. So please pick me, Vanna, so that I can add my personal, handwritten, cursive notes to those beautiful cards!
I’m in the school system and it pains me to see children (including my own ultra bright and creative 22 year-old) completely unable to write cursive. It’s such a beautiful art form! Who could picture Queen Elizabeth the First tapping an e-mail to her advisers; or John and Abigail Adams texting their letters full of beautiful language? Bring back the thoughtful practice of writing personal letters, notes, cards, recipes…and whatnots! If nothing else, the U.S. Postal Service could use the help!
Susan, I am teacher and have always loved teaching “penmanship”. When I was in Catholic grammar school, each year we would have to send a penmanship sample to the “higher ups” and a prize would be given in each grade . . .a very fond memory!
Susan,
I so agree with you about cursive writing! I love writing and it makes me sad that it’s getting pushed out of so many schools’ curriculum. Just today I was in a flea market and picked up a postcard from 1923 with the most beautiful script! E-mails and text messages are fine, but so much will truly be lost if that is the only format we write in!
Anyway, thank you for this lovely post, and your lovely blog, And thank you for the chance to win the sweet prizes to encourage our cursivity:)
Ah, you noticed my new word! 🙂
I’ll be very disappointed if they do away with cursive writing in school. My handwriting has always been my “pride & joy”, adding little flourishes here and there. I would love to win either the Grandmother book or the recipe book to fill in for my little granddaughter and give it to her someday. Just hope she will be able to read the cursive writing!
I have always loved cursive writing. I used to take my books and copy them on lined notebook paper just to practice my handwriting. I, too, got A’s in penmanship. I still like writing today – always trying out different types of pens and pencils. Cursive must survive – it is important for the creative side of our brains! Thanks again for your blog – always a pleasure. Andrea, Boyertown, PA
I have loved you and your work for many years! I have many books, stickers, post it notes, stationary and journals…..all Susan Branch items. I saved all my paper Willard’s and the free bookmarks enclosed in them. I saved my favorite calendar pictures and now I love receiving your blog in my email inbox and saving those too! I also have Gladys Taber books and loved reading her, even before you ever mentioned liking her.
Kindred spirits!
I have worked in the schools for 15 years and have witnessed the decline in penmanship and all of the arts generally. Teachers are happy if the student can print a complete sentence and give little thought to the form, let alone artistry. Fortunately there are still children who yearn from the inside out to make things beautiful and we will be thankful for them more and more as the years pass.
(I was a Brownie, too, in 1957 in Hartford, Connecticut.)
I love cursive! When I finish this comment, I will sit down and write (by hand, in cursive) a letter to a dear friend who lives a couple hours away from me. We usually call one another, but one day I found a letter from her in the mailbox. What joy! I skipped all the way up the driveway! My poor grandson is not being taught to write (he wasn’t even taught to print and his handwriting looks like he wasn’t taught). I think we need several “Hoorah for Handwriting” Days. Thank you for bringing up the subject and for sharing all the lovely examples.
Who can forget Palmer Method? In the Catholic grade school that I went to it was so important that they purchased special desks that had a little “Florida protrusion” that supported our arms! Winning the All-School Penmanship award for our little school was a highlight of my 8th grade, but alas, by high school my handwriting and creativity were having a tussle and creativity won! I do love the immediacy of a keyboard. Your ideas can flow out the ends of your fingers as fast as you can think them, BUT…..where will the record of these ideas be kept? Not in my grandma’s little hankie box, not in the special letter box covered in my favorite fabric — they will be kept in CYBERSPACE! Aaaarrrgggghhh!
Susan, it is so shameful what were are willing to just throw away in our society..can’t imagine not knowing cursive! Thank you for this post and of course the give-away. Some kids can’t even tell time if it is not digital…how awful is that! We need to remember yesterday to appreciate today and tomorrow and grow. Kindredly, Lynnie
Writing is therapeutic, it’s the greatest form or relaxation. Getting or sending a “real” letter through the mail is so refreshing, welcomed, enjoyed! Love letters are the best to friends and family reminding them they are being thought about. The anticipation of “knowing” a letter is on the way….thrilling!! I remember before my mother died, she would sit at the window and watch for the mailman in hopes of something for her to open – cherished memories. …….Thank you Susan!
I, too, am shocked at the lack of teaching cursive in schools! I remember making the circles and learning to write. What a great accomplishment! Kids will miss out on so much if they can’t write and read cursive. I would love to win, as I’m recording my Mother’s memories and that book would be just the ticket! Thanks for your posts; they mean a lot.
This isn’t nearly as uplifting as all the other comments, but… One of the last straws in my marriage came when I found all the love letters I had written to my husband, for fifteen years, in a drawer, unopened. I took the children and moved 3500 miles away. It was too hard to love someone, to want to do wonderful things for someone, who didn’t even think I was worth opening an envelope.
Unopened! Unless he was hiding the fact from you that he couldn’t read, what in the world could he have been thinking?
He could definitely read. Thank you for responding. I still don’t know what he was thinking.
Creature.
T oday celebrating “I love cursive day” . . . a genius idea!
H andwriting was so important to me as a teacher
A nd both my parents had beautiful writing trained in the 1920s.
N ow I’m a grandma at 80 scrapbooking, sharing memories &
K eeping family recipes to hand down to the grandchildren.
Y our blog brings such nostalgic joy & delight to my days
O ver & over I thank you in my thoughts so many times
U ntil today when I must say how very very
S. pecial you are for all you share with us of your talents!!!
B. eing a fan of your blog and books doesn’t need rewards.
I’m plain hooked on the sunshine & musica you spread
regardless of winning your wonderful give-aways!
That was so creative and beautiful, thank you Joann!
Thank you, Susan, for this beautiful post. I love handwritten things, too, which is probably why I love your books so much! I would be thrilled to be the randomly-selected entry, but I always feel uplifted by your blog no matter what. Keep up the “write” stuff!
I love handwriting and can’t imagine it ever being gone. I hope I will never see the day if/when that happens ….it’s just so lovely to read in the written hand. Thanks for sharing your beautiful examples.
Many many years ago now my fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Jo Delle Johnston. (a descendent of Mark Twain – but that’s another story), appalled by my very ‘odd’ handwriting, taught me how to write cursive correctly. I learned to do it and do it well and still get compliments on my cursive writing and printing. It would be a shame not to teach it anymore. Handwriting is so distinctive and individual and something that instantly identifies a letter. I love opening my mailbox and knowing immediately who wrote the letter before I even glance at the return address.
May those who decide what is to be taught in school come to their senses and keep printing and handwriting in the curriculum.
It’s a great debate we’re having, I hope it filters over to the powers that be.
Oh how I wish I could bring you along with me to the next parent teacher conference I attend! I have argued this point on deaf ears for years. And now, at 17 years of age, when my eldest son gives his signature it is PRINTED!!! How sad is that? My newest fear, however, is that a similar disregard is growing in regard to drawing….especially considering the fact that my 10 year old was recently referred to as being “quaint” when he illustrated his animal report rather than print pictures offline like everyone else. We told him it was a compliment and bought him an artist sketchbook to “keep up the good work in!”
Good for you! Quaint! Bah, humbug!
Oh Susan…I am so happy that you have made this day…”save cursive day”! This has really bothered me…I can’t imagine that they would stop teaching and using cursives. I love this blog posting! I will be writing about this tonight on my blog and will link them over to you! I have been sharing my mothers diary on my blog for some time now! This was in the front of it & I just had to share it with you!
“Diary Speaking!”
No matter how busy you may be
Don’t forget to write in me.
So if you to me be true,
after years I will mean
More than gold to you.
Isn’t this just the truth? I had never read this before, had you?
I would just love to win either prize they are both amazing!
Blessings,
Gert
No, it’s darling Gert! Your mom was an inspiration! Those Iowa moms are really good!
Yes, they sure are and were in my case. If you would ever like to use this old saying please feel free. I snapped a picture of it on my blog if you’d like to see it in cursives! Blessing…
That’s so sweet of you Gert. Do you think your mom actually wrote it? If I used it, should I credit her?
Luckily, I homeschool our children so cursive will always be a part of our curriculum.
Lucky children!!
As Charlie Brown says, “Good Grief!”–there are already 600+ comments on here before I leave mine?!!! LOL 🙂 I have had the same thoughts about the loss of cursive writing skills as I’ve heard about this, too. I’ve even heard people say, “Why do we need to know how to write?” Whatever are they thinking of??? When the power goes down and the computers don’t work, where will we be??? And contemplate this, where will our written history be years from now? There may be no written history any more at all!!! I love sitting down and writing a letter to a friend. And do you know what? If I think my handwriting is too messy, then I’d better slow down and do a better job–right?!! Are we not in control and responsible for the legibility of our own handwriting??? Yikes!!! (If I sound like I’m on a “rant” about this, I am!) There are no excuses for bad handwriting unless one has a broken hand and that hand is in a cast. And it is a sad commentary on our lives if we can’t find a little time to sit down and write a letter once in a while. (Okay, BFF Sandy, no comments on the lack of a handwritten letter winging its way to you in Boston from here in Minnesota because you haven’t written me for a long time, either! Anyway, we talk on the phone all the time!) 🙂 I love handwritten recipes, too. It means so much to see someone’s handwriting and gives me a warm feeling when I make their recipe. And I LOVE getting handwritten letters in the mail–it just means so much…Are we once again “throwing the baby out with the bathwater” when we give up handwriting for the speed, etc. of computers?
BOTH, let’s have both!! Right, much more fun!
I loved experimenting with different “styles” of handwriting when I was a girl. My kids always comment on my nice handwriting. I’m a homeschool mom and I tried my best to teach pretty handwriting to my kids, but only 1 out of 4 kids seems to have a knack for it.
Maybe it means one out of four could find a lifetime of contentment and meaning as artists? Possible.
Oh Susan! You are so right! Teaching middle school show me the kids need print AND cursive lessons. Times have changed… And I say this as a 28 yr old ha!
It changed so fast, since you were about 14! That was yesterday!
Dear Susan,
As an English teacher, words and how they are written has always been so important to me. I would tell my students that their poor handwriting would put me in a bad mood….did you want your teacher to be in a bad mood? Even before reading what you wrote?
Well, of course, my ‘secret’ best students had the best handwriting and lovely cursive, is well, just like art!!! So, I’m sure YOU were a big time favorite with all of your teachers….and it is just one of the many things about YOU that have led you in the direction of your dreams….
Now….I’m dreaming….we’ll see where it leads…
Love you!!
xo
Joann
I was the teacher’s pet in 4th grade, I knew it, and I LOVED it. But I never knew why. Mr. Fischbacher.
One of my favorite things 🙂 I love hand writing 🙂
When I write out my stories… I am literally writing them out with paper and pen or pencil. I go so far as to use ink and a quill pen too 😉
I so hate writing on a computer lol, but must to get my story onto it. BUT it’s PaINFUl! lol
I haven’t forgotten Jim Bird 😀 He’s still being worked… it’s in verse and verse is sooo hard! but I’ll conquer it!
The little journal of the little girl! oh what a gold mine 🙂
cursive writing is meant to be used. Same thing is happening here on Prince Edward Island… cursive is going away, but I want my kids to hand write 🙂
Love your line up of diaries 🙂 I do understand about burning them lol My sis said I’d have to burn mine too … some day *boohoo*
Love,
Denise of Ingleside, PEI
P.S. I was also a Brownie and a Girl Scout! 🙂
Me too!
The Girl Scouts are 100 years old this year!~I saw some of the new badges they give out now~so many related to computers~Times sure do change!
Susan,
I love receiving your newsletter so much. I’m homeschooling my boys and we started cursive with my youngest this year! I don’t know anyone in my homeschool group who isn’t teaching their little ones print and cursive writing in earnest so hopefully we will be able to keep it alive!
I found a similar book to your “Grandma Tell Me Your Story” book many years ago (albeit not nearly as beautiful as yours) and gave it to my grandmother who had been diagnosed with lung cancer and had only months to live. She said she would fill it out for me, but she passed away suddenly and my mother and I assumed she hadn’t had time.
Months later we were going through a box of her books and came across the “story” book. I flipped through the pages sadly thinking they would be blank and wishing I had given it to her earlier. I gasped when I saw that the pages were filled out! My mother and I sat and took turns reading it to each other through tears and laughter, cherishing every word written in her beautiful handwriting.
I tried to find the same book to give to my mother years later but couldn’t find it anywhere, so when I saw your book in my email today I almost did a little dance!! I am so thrilled and even if I win I will be ordering at least two more because I want to give them to my mom and mother-in-law and fill one out myself (in my not so artistic handwriting) for my boys.
Thank you so much for all your beautiful inspiration!
Melissa~
What a wonderful gift your grandmother left for you!!! That’s so great!
Susan, you are so right about cursive writing being a springboard into creativity. Thanks for your blog. I so enjoy reading all that you write about.
I’ve been thinking of getting the “Grandma, Tell Me Your Story” and the recipe keeper too. I already have the delightful note cards. Only special people get one!
My last child goes off to college this fall and I thought it’s time to do a recipe keeper for him. I did this for my 3 daughters years ago. They all loved it and still do.
Now I have a few grand kids and thought it would be lovely to share my growing up years with them. So whether I win or not, I will be getting them soon. I guess that makes me a winner either way!!!!
P. S. I have always appreciated lovely cursive writing. It will definitely be a tragity if they stop teaching it.
A part of our heritage will be gone without cursive hand writing. I am not an artist, but I always loved signing my name with curling and swirling letters!
I used to think we didn’t need cursive with all the fancy schmancy computers and “smart” phones out there. I love e-mail and texting a quick note until my 8 year old daughter started to learn handwriting in school. Her everday writing looks a little bit like chicken scratch. But her cursive writing ROCKS?! My husband and I are amazed when she shows off her cursive skills. I don’t really know how to explain it, but I do know the schools better keep it in their curriculum or I will never be able to read my kiddos handwritten letters to me! Thank you so much for your fabulous blog. It makes me smile to read about your garden, kitty, birdies, cute tea cups and fun walks in the moonlight. You are such an inspiration!! 🙂
Chris
Count me in as another Catholic school girl who learned to write cursive with the Palmer Method. I still get compliments on my penmanship on a regular basis and it always surprises me because in my mind, everyone writes in cursive. But sadly not is not the case!
Dear Susan,
I’m heartbroken about the demise of cursive. ABC News reported that 41 states have adopted the Common Core State Standards for English, which omits cursive handwriting from required curriculum.
Darrell Huckaby says and I agree with him 100%, “There are many instances in which students are required to write essays by hand – like on AP exams – and it makes no sense to expect them to print such documents. And if we don’t teach children how to write cursive, they also won’t know how to read cursive. In one short generation, many centuries worth of letters and other correspondence will be lost to the average person. There are just some things an educated person should know – and how to write is one of those things.”
Thanks for your beautiful writing. I love it. Hi to Jack and Girl. (We have a long-haired tuxie named Barleigh.)
Happy Cursive Day !!!!
I have kept every single letter that my Grandmother has ever sent to me …and in fact…all of the cards that both of my Grandmother’s have sent or given to me. I still cant quite bear to read the letters again yet since they both passed, but I will never ever get rid of them. When I moved to WA state from KS, we didnt have a computer in those days, so it was letter writing! I personally hate letter writing because my parents had such an unusual “punishment” when I was growing up…..writing sentences! There were so many of them to write and they lasted forever that I grew to hate writing. However, to keep in touch with my Grandmothers, I would write and write and write letter after letter because I was so homesick for them! It is one of God’s amazing turning of things into good for me because now I have a daughter who is a budding writer! She was seemingly born that way and she reminds me a little of you with the journals and diaries and stories. I almost thought she might have a touch of OCD at one point….lol….because of her near obsessions with words and orderliness when it comes to filing away things and keeping her characters organized. Anyhoo….now I love writing! Not for myself, but I appreciate that others love it and will never give up on cursive! What a strange thing to give up on children like that and throw out teaching cursive in school?! I loved how you have kept everything and treasure it all! These are the things that make up a happy heart and homelife…and to pass them on! Btw…I think your handwriting was and is adorable!
Love how your Blog transports me back in time! How I wish I had my old letters from friends and family. When I was young they never seemed that important to me…..sigh!
Tell the children in your life to save things. I have all the party dresses that my niece had from when she was around 12 to around 16, in a box. We took her to England, so she has some sweet little dresses. Someday, when she’s 35, I’ll give them to her.
I can’t imagine our world without cursive….. if I could send you this message in cursive, I would. There’s something very special and personal about a handwritten message. Hope I win the give-away!
I always got an “A” in handwriting too and was always so proud of it. I still (at 56) get compliments on my handwriting, which I have to say always makes me feel so good (like I have this special little talent). It makes sad to think that cursive won’t be taught.
Have you ever tried to draw? I think there might be a connection!
Dear Susan, Reading the blog on cursive writing brought back memories of school days long-ago.. I loved practicing my letters…I even changed my style from year to year…adding dots to the ends of my letters to make them extra special. I was sorting through my basement and found all the letters my husband wrote to me when we were dating in college (43 years ago) ! Also one of my treasured letters was sent to us when our son Kevin was born. The writer, who I did not know, had taken the time to handwrite a note telling us about their special needs child and it was so thoughtful. Rereading those letters mean a lot to me. So I am hoping to pass the warmth of a hand written note to our new grandson, Teddy. Thank you for sharing your life with us via your blog. Fondly, Susan
I treasure the diaries of my grandmother’s. She too, was very transparent on certain days. That transparency has allowed us to understand the heartaches and challenges of her life. Nothing can extend someone’s thoughts and life better than their own written words.
Hi Susan! I just wrote a post but not sure if it is showing?? I think you are so right! I’ve taught middle school English and can barely read their print handwriting, nevermind cursive. I agree with the post above, “Hoorah for Handwriting!”:) Times have changed in school..and I am saying this as a 28 year old! Ha!I love that you have special books and memories written down. May I ask what type of black pen you use? I scrapbook and have tried many pens but none look like yours!
I use a rapidograph when I do my artwork, but just regular pens, whatever I find around, in my diaries.
May cursive live on forever!