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 join you in your lament against the demise of cursive. To give you some hope, though, my daughter’s school was recently in the paper here because they are one of the few who still emphasize learning it. So some still find it important. When you mentioned the Declaration of Independence, I have often wondered how future generations will be able to read it and other Founding Documents without cursive. As I researched my family’s genealogy several years ago to join the Daughters of the American Revolution, you can’t imagine the thrill it gave me to read old census records and marriage licenses written in gorgeous handwriting, all cursive. I’m sad to think that may go away.
When you were talking about your grandmother, and asking her about her dance partners, and that yours was the refrigerator door, I want to tell you my own grandmother turned 96 this week, she’s had a hip replacement, and she still ties a dish cloth to her refrigerator door and dances every day. 🙂 I’m sure that’s why I’m almost 50 years old and still have the extraordinary pleasure of having my grandma still in my life! I hope I keep dancing until I’m 96, too. 🙂 And all of you, too! 🙂
Me too, Sarah, and “all of you too!”
I love your Willards and your blog. They are like letters from a dear friend. You are definitely a kindred spirit. I’ve been obsessed with neat handwriting and cursive since I was in elementary school. I remember when my fourth grade teacher gave me a B- in handwriting on a report card and it nearly crushed me! I’ve been fastidious about it ever since. As a 3rd grade teacher, I value neat handwriting and students learning cursive. That is one of the things students look forward to the most about becoming a 3rd grader. Sadly, with all of the academic requirements we have to fit into our instructional day, cursive is a once a week workbook activity taught by a teacher’s aide. When the students finish their workbooks, they receive a “Cursive License” which is a lamented card (credit card size) with their school picture on it. They are thrilled when they earn their “license” at the end of the school year.
Wonderful; and they see that connection between brain and hand, because of you!
dear susan,
happy cursivity day!
i am once again so encouraged by your thoughts and to know that i have a kindred spirit!
i have been teaching art for quite awhile and one of the things i LOVE is teaching creativity lettering, which includes calligraphy. (lettering is not just for communicating, it’s truly an art form, don’t you agree?!) i am always so impressed with my kiddos. they do AMAZING work – often it’s the students who don’t think they are very creative or artistic that do a beautiful job with their lettering. they are surprised at themselves and super proud – how dare we take that accomplishment away from future students!
when i first start a lettering unit, i always hear “i can do any font on my computer” but i tell my kids that the computer will NEVER give them the satisfaction (or the beauty) that comes from doing something with THEIR OWN HANDS. (how can a machine possibly convey the personal connection of heart & mind when you pull out pen & paper?)
your own personal lettering style has inspired and intrigued me since the country living days and i LOVE the beauty and joy it brings to my world. THANKS as always!
🙂
I didn’t think I was creative either — we take our own talents for granted! It’s good you are there to tell them!
oops! i meant to say “creative lettering”!
I identify with your love of handwriting…I was bit by that bug in my youth as well. I taught myself italic calligraphy when I was a young bride through a weekly program on PBS. There is just joy in a beautifully written note, label, recipe card…whatever!
You are loved, Susan!
Dear Susan, I want to share with you a book called Our Old Fashioned Country Diary published by Michel Design Works (www.ourcountrydiary.com.) I have started my 25th diary this year. The books are beautifully illustrated! They are structered. Two pages for each holiday. One page for the days of the week. Every year there is a theme. This year it is about green and growing things. Last year’s Diary was about books. With a quote, “There is no frigate like a book/To take us lands away,” wrote Emily Dickinson. All through the book there are trivia and quotes that I love. My diaries have become a part of our family like. Daily life, pictures, stories, laughter, etc. For Valentine’ Day this year your recipe for Orange Choccolate Chip Tea Biscuits went in it. Down through the years we refer back. When did we visit, newborn pics, a copy of an e-mail from our grandson in Iraq and more. This year I sent them a pic of all 25 of my diaries. Your book “Grandma tell me your story” is such a great idea. Knowing and remembering those here and those who have gone is special. I tried a blank only diary and wasn’t very good about writing in it. The other thing is I have is an atrocious handwriting. I love cursive and remember practicing in school, but sadly didn’t shine doing it. You are truly a wonderful artist and author and I love seeing and reading your blog. It starts my day off with a smile. Thank you.
Bravo! YES, we must save cursive! Being a homeschooling mom to 6, I tackle this ‘to teach cursive or not’ question all the time. When I first started teaching my oldest children handwriting 19 years ago, they were very frustrated by the constraints of ‘manuscript.’ I then came across an article by author and educator, Samuel Blumenfeld, entitled “Teach Cursive First!” I thought, Whaaat??? But, after his enlightening history of the teaching of handwriting in American schools, I flew against the norm and began teaching my 5 and 6yo cursive. They flourished! My daughter was now free to make lovely swirls and my son’s handwriting was finally legible…Yipee! I continued this w/ my 4 younger children and have not looked back since.
Love the pic of your diaries, that is just precious! I hope to leave a ‘legacy’ of my journals someday. Right now I have several going at once: one for prayers, one for everyday happenings, one for gardening, one a ‘commonplace book’ of quotes from books I’m reading. They are fun!
Thank you for your inspiration.
I, too, have diaries that will have to be burned. I think we should have a diary burning party!
Joy
I have it all planned: On a wonderful day in the fall, dig a big hole in my backyard and fill it with wood, make a fire. Adirondack chairs in a circle around it, girlfriends come, bring their diaries. We have a reading, each girlfriend reads a page or a story, the good, the bad, or the ugly. Pages or whole diaries go into fire, prayers for wisdom go up in smoke. Pink Cosmopolitans soften the blow.
Aha! I LOVE it!!!
btw….I went back and read about Nancy Luce’s story…very moving and thought-provoking…talk about the strength of the human spirit! Thank you for sharing that with us, Sue.
She was quite a person!
Susan what a great idea! I have a few diaries that need the same treatment. Diary writing is such a personal thing–nice to do but not always great to share with the rest of the world. I’ve always felt it was like sitting on a psychiatrist couch for therapy! ♥
Susan, I too was shocked to read about letting cursive go. It was something that I looked forward to learning to do in the fourth grade, and loved shopping for my fountain pen. I also enjoyed teaching my children how to do it as well. I like the fonts that look like script. I need all three of those prizes, because I am a grandma, I love to send notes, and want to leave all my special recipes in a nicer format than what I use daily. Your web site inspires me every time I visit. I even tried a tiny water color the other day just to see what it was like. Pam
I’m so happy to hear that!
One more comment, ladies. I home schooled our three children, and one of the best things we did was teach handwriting using the Portland State University program that starts with a “pre-cursive printing that has easy joinery between letters; it then progressed through the levels to full-fledged calligraphy. It is still available, though through a new publisher. I plan on teaching my six year old grandson, who is very interested in writing and art.
Find a child who is interested, and hand down the art of fine handwriting!
Traveling to Michigan…in the hotel…surprised and elated to find another blog entry from you ;-)…and a blog entry about one of my favorite things…letter writing…I’ve done lots of letter writing and now I consider it a “lost art” because of all the email and cell phone use…even though I am probably the only person in the USA not to have a cell phone, I have come to love the computer…still love to write letters and send cards to my grandchildren…Susan~did you know that Oprah has lots of journals too and has given her bff Gayle King the order to burn the journals when something happens to Oprah???…
I didn’t know that. I have given that same order to all my girlfriends. Do you think Gayle would do it? Really? Oh that would be hard!
Talk about kindred spirits! While I was driving to do my volunteer work today, I was just thinking how much I love snailmail and handwritten notes and letters. And here’s your lovely blog entry and all those comments from everyone. I’m another transplanted Californian. I got A’s in handwriting at the Catholic schools I attended. Now I’m a teacher and we have to squeeze in teaching cursive in 3rd grade in our wonderful school district but most of us try. It’s tough finding time to fit it into our packed curriculum. Our 8 year olds just love learning cursive. They are especially excited when they can string the letters into words for the first time. Thank you for the beautiful piece you’ve written and to all who shared too.
i didn’t know it at the time but i had a 7th grade core teacher (mr. schaeffer) in junior high school that had everyone in the class keep a journal (it was just a spiral notebook) in which we were to write on a daily basis. more times than not my daily entry would say, “nothing happened today.” can you imagine?! i had this wonderful teacher…a man at that…who knew the importance of keeping a journal, and i was too dumb to see the significance of it then. oh, how i wish i had listened when he would try to encourage me to write. he was a very special person. the teacher who was absolutely my most favorite teacher in all of my school years! come to think of it…though i did not keep that journal for class the way i should have, i did start writing poetry and short stories around that time on my own. i never ever would have thought of letting anyone read them though. i was such a quiet and self conscious little girl. i would have been totally embarrassed for people to read what i wrote. oh my goodness this has been such a realization for me! my teacher actually accomplished what he set out to do…get me to write…he just never knew it worked. i really wish now that he did know… sandi in bel alton, maryland
What a wonderful blog entry! Handwriting has always been special to me. I have always strived to do my best, and have gotten many compliments on it. I think it says a lot about a person, and I’m convinced the way your penmanship looks, is genetic! Mine is neat and everyone on both sides of my family has neat handwriting. Where my dear sweet husband on the other hand, has “chicken scratch” penmanship, and so does everyone in HIS family! So there you go!
P. S.
“Chicken scratch”, is a direct quote from his mother describing HER handwriting! Ha! It would be a delight to win the sweet and wonderful gifts you are giving away!
I also keep a journal. Don’t write in it everyday but most days. Writing is fast becoming a lost art. I love to go to yard sales and flea markets and look for old journals or letters. It is fun. Thanks for sharing your days with us.
Joyce
What a unique talent you have, Susan, for focusing on the sweet and ordinary things in life, and making them special! When I was young — which I still am, at 48, ha ha — but even younger, I remember being ‘made’ to practice handwriting while my parents/grandparents would be playing Pinochle. Doing all of those slanting exercises……….and that eventually progressed to where I would copy ENTIRE BOOKS from the school library which I found especially captivating!! I think that’s how I wound up with a slight but permanent callous on my right middle finger! Unfortunately, my daughter has not taken up this interest in having wonderful handwriting skills, despite the summers spent practicing in special books for such exercises……..or the motivation that an otherwise not-so-bright individual can appear brilliant if their handwriting is superb! Things have definitely changed, heavy sigh. But I think your handwriting is SO perfect and have enjoyed it in every book you’ve crafted so far. May your drawing hand stay callous-free forever!!! :))
I love this post! I have all of my mom and grandma’s old recipe cards full of their cursive handwriting. I feel as though I have them back as I touch and read the old cards as I plan my weekly menus. Everything you write brings back memories and touches my heart.
Dear Susan,
I identify with your sense of cursive handwriting as an art form. I too, felt a love of learning cursive writing and practiced all kinds of ways to dot my i’s and swirl across my t’s. Loops and curves were thrilling to do. It’s magic in a way, and your style becomes your own. I’ve been told my penmanship is unbelievable, it’s so beautiful. Well, I worked at achieving it and thank goodness Mrs. Edwards told me to slant my words the other way, as I had to retrain myself till I perfected the right slant. I do think every child should learn good penmanship; it’s becoming a lost art; like sewing and other domestic skills. That is why I love you. We are both “good ol’ fashioned girls.” (Musica-“The Daughter of Rosie O’Grady.) —<—<–@ Randi P.S. I hope I win the How to be Happy cards but if I don't, I'll just buy them from your online shop.
I loved to write letters as a kid and still do. I love pretty stationery! In 5th grade, my teacher taught us calligraphy after school. I enjoyed that SO much, and I still find it relaxing to get my tablet, ink and pens, and just practice writing the alphabet or my full name, or names of family members. Beautiful handwriting is such an art form, and I’m sad to think penmanship won’t be taught in schools someday. Computers and email are wonderful, but can never take the place of a REAL letter found in a REAL mail box! Thanks for the great blog post, as always!
Hi Susan! I am a first grade teacher. One on the things I love to teach is printing. It is always so interesting to see the progession in the children’s printing. I also like to see the little individual styles they start to develop. They are also eager to learn how to do cursive handwriting, something that isn’t taught till second grade. When they have free draw time I let the write any way they wish. They love to show me their names printed with curliecues and loops and excitedly tell me, “Look I wrote in cursive”. Because of that I hope teaching cursive handwriting never is taken out of the curriculum. I hope the desire to learn cursive handwriting always lives in the heart of children.
They love art, and when they are little, they really don’t know the difference between drawing a flower or a letter.
Email is quick, but I much prefer a handwritten note from my loved ones. And I treasure the handwritten recipe book my grandmother and aunt gave me as a wedding shower gift. Thank you for reminding us of the little beautiful things in life!
I’m a lefty…and just never had what I would call a beautiful handwriting. Both my mom and dad had beautiful, readable handwriting. I was of the era that I should have had this skill BUT I did not…all the letters were way slanted. My teachers and professors did not not like reading my handwriting. I’ve really tried to improve in my elder age; and I do much better with printing. If asked what skill I would like to have that I don’t, I usually say “a beautiful, cursive handwriting”. I’m very envious of people who have this skill – and love, love, love receiving handwritten notes. I will continue practicing.
Linda in San Diego
It doesn’t have to be beautiful, what makes it beautiful is that it’s yours.
A friend recently told me I have “art journal” handwriting – the first time anyone ever complimented by cursive writing. I was thrilled to no end. I did try to teach myself copperplate when I was in grade school. Love your writing!
Susan, Oh how your post hit home today!!! I love to write! I can remember as a little girl, my brother and I would practice our handwriting, coming up with a new way to make a pretty “F” , or drop our letters below the line, serriffs, calligraphy, scrolls and swirls!!! I come from a very artsy family…..which is why I fell into becoming a professional cake decorator!! I get to play all day, and practice my pretty handwriting!!! When my son was in 3rd grade, I asked his teacher why he wasn’t learning his cursive, and when he told me they don’t teach that anymore, I was heartbroken. WHAT?? Cursive is your writing, your signature. How can you learn to write your own signature if you don’t learn cursive? I just don’t understand. Thank you for sharing today!!! ( If I could sign my name here I would!!! ) ~Carie
Fun, handwriting on cakes!
LONG LIVE CURSIVE!
Like many of the writers above, I, too, remember learning cursive in school and enjoying the practice it took to make it pretty. My grandchildren don’t care the least about writing nicely, but I lavish praise on them when they send me a handwritten note.
This grandmother would like to win the note cards and assorted sundries
A reminder to make sure my little ones learn cursive (my boy has his ABCs down but we haven’t moved to writing letters, yet) 🙂
Oh, Susan. You are so wise about the impact of letters and diaries: When my mother died unexpectedly 9 years ago at age 83, my 2 sisters and I discovered her diaries and the letters she and my Dad [who died the year before] exchanged during WWII. She had saved all of them in a box [along with a set of her china doll dishes I now have in my china cabinet, the plaid wool skirt she eloped in and her nurse’s cape] as she moved from Denver, across the US during the war, and then to homes in New York, California, Washington and back to California. I took the diaries back to Oklahoma and my sister took the letters. We decided to exchange them when we were finished. My mother was 12 when she began the diaries and 22 when she stopped them. It was the most wonderful gift she could ever have given me. I felt like I really got to know my mother, not just as my mother, but as an individual person – from a little girl growing up under difficult circumstances into a young woman with dreams of becoming a nurse [not a librarian as her Dad was insisting] and then the diary ending with her meeting a soldier, my Dad, in City Park in Denver as she was taking time for a walk during nursing school at Mercy Hospital. As she wrote about her life with a Mom in a TB Sanitorium, a dad who traveled and the boarding homes where different paid adults raised her and her sister, to the time when she was almost 14 and her Mom died, I wanted to reach out and hold her and tell her to hang on because everything would be okay. At times I felt like she was my daughter, my sister, my friend, and I came to feel so close and to love her in a whole new way. She wrote in such detail including names and addresses where she lived and places she would go, that my sisters and I met in Denver several months after her death and traced her steps, visiting the homes where she lived, the hospital where the TB sanitorium once stood, the site of the hospital where she did her nurses training, toured her High School with the help of a wonderfully empathetic guidance counselor, walked through City Park where she met my Dad, and even went out to Lowry Field where my Dad was stationed in 1942. We met 3 of her friends that she went all through school with and learned so much more from those delightful ladies. Because of her diary and its details, we even discovered that she was once [secretly] engaged to the son of the family that owned the horses Whirlaway and Citation that won the Kentucky Derby!
My high school aged granddaughter and I would sit each evening and read through 2 or 3 of Mom and Dad’s letters. In this age of texting and emails and skype, she couldn’t believe that their only communication was through letters [delivered twice a day during the war] and they had to wait days or weeks for a response. It was so hard to live with uncertainty and all that entailed. It gave her a glimpse into how different and difficult life could be in the 30’s and 40’s.
So, yes, Susan. I’m very grateful to cursive and to people who write letters and diaries, and pour themselves into them. So please don’t burn yours. There are gifts inside waiting to be opened by others – with glimpses into life and hope and hurt and yearning and joy.
I know this is too long to print, but I wanted you to know you struck a truth for me in your post. We gain comfort that even though we live in different times and under different circumstances, our feelings and joys and struggles join us. We’re not that different after all.
Hi Diane,
I just had to respond to your comment, what a treasure to find those letters, my mom passed away unexpectedly when I was 11 years old, I don’t have much of her life history, really very little. I know she moved to California from Ohio, but why I don’t know. I have so many questions for her that I will , I guess never get answered. So glad you found the letters, a real treasure for your granddaughter, and a great learning experience.
Have a good day! Lisa
Thank you for your kind comment, Lisa. It must have been so difficult to lose your Mom so young and to have so many unanswered questions. I think my Mom felt that way about her mother. Wishing you peace and comfort with what is. Enjoy your spring time! Diane
Happy “I Love Cursive Day”!!!! What a special thing to celebrate! We “know” our friends and family by their handwriting as well as knowing them by their facial features or movements. I can’t imagine someone taking that away and it really bothers me that someone would even consider it. What warmth and depth of feeling one can get just from seeing another’s handwriting! I love to write letters by hand, or make a handmade card. It tells someone how special they are and we all need to hear that now and then. It’s certainly not something I want to see go. We still need to hear and know that now and then. And some people call that progress???? Not in my mind! I will be so happy for whomever wins the giveaway, and I’ll hope a bit that it will be me. It’s a perfect gift for anyone – especially those who seem to congregate here! I hope you had a wonderful “I Love Cursive” Day! I did! Cursively yours, Judy in Oregon
Susan, once again I love your blog! I read it fast because I want to see everything, then I go back and slowly take it all in. I had journals with my thoughts, dreams and all sorts of extras: stickers, pictures cut out of magazines, comics… Then when my first marriage ended I lost my heart and hopes and threw everything away. Oh how I wish I had not done that!!
I still have a few letters written to me by my grandmother and a very dear aunt, both of whom have passed away. Those letters are precious to me! You have encouraged me to start writing real letters to my nieces and nephews. I think instead of e mail sending them snail mail would be a good experience. I always loved getting snail mail!
By the way, I ordered two of your books, from a used book store. They came today and I am thrilled to have them! I realized recently that of all your books I have purchased, I have never kept any for myself. So I am starting my own Susan Branch collection!!
Cursive FOREVER, please!!!!!! We must launch a campaign… the thought of its disappearance is a thought I almost cannot bear. Susan, your blog post today is a total keeper (they ALL are). I just love that you’ve kept journals all your life, and now they sit, all labeled, and full of your history. I’ve done the very same thing. Starting with a diary I was given for my 8th birthday… a spiffy one with a little latch and key… I now have jumbles and tumbles of journals in boxes and plastic bins. My goodness! My worst fear is that when I’m gone, my friends and family will read them in shock and disbelief, like in Bridges of Madison County!
Love this!! Writing notes are a big part of my life. I have fallen and broken my right hand (yes, I am right-handed!). However, after a few weeks, I began to try to write. I was sending notes with a disclaimer about my poor handwriting. I am now almost at full speed. I love it when a elderly person comes up to me and tells me how they loved my note! Makes my day.
Susan-
I may have some very good news for you….the newest and most interesting research on reading success can actually be traced to a child’s handwriting. It has been noted in a recent study that students with poor handwriting skills tend to have a harder time with learning to read and their grades ib school tend to be poorer than those with better handwriting….thus it seems that teaching handwriting may be on the come back…let’s hope! So tell your sister to keep up the excellent work…boys and girls still need those handwriting and cursive lessons!!!
Kathy
That’s great to hear.
I cannot believe they will no longer teach cursive writing in schools. I take great pride in my handwriting and worked so hard on it as a child because my 4th grade teacher would always tell me how bad my handwriting was (I was straight “A” in everything else). I did the birth announcements for both of my younger sisters so obviously it wasn’t too terrible. I always tried to teach my children that they would be judged by their speech and handwriting. They always wrote thank you notes for any gifts received, but I think now they all do e-mails. My poor son is left-handed and dyslexic so I was unable to help him as much as I did the girls.
It’s nice to realize there are kindred spirits out there who feel the same way. Cursive is part of our children’s and grandchildren’s heritage in my opinion.
Kay B
My brother Jim has the worst handwriting in the history of the world, I don’t care, it’s his and I love it. He can also take anything apart and put it back together better than it ever was.
Have you noticed that the more arts (of any kind) are taken from the schools(and it’s been happening for many years, now) Kids will always find a way to express themselves……..they put it everywhere they can get away with it, or not, as it seems! Maybe it’s more apparent here in L.A., but it’s ashame that the kids have no other outlets for their creativity. They are shouting LOOK AT ME, LOOK WHAT I CAN DO! Graffitti is everywhere. Some of it is really ugly. Some of it is quite good. But let’s face it. No one wants it causing such urban blight. Now the schools are using lap pads…….no need for pens and paper. I think it’s sad. What happens if we loose our technology for any reason? (God forbid!) Will real human handwriting become extinct? I already feel like a dinosaur!LOL. Learning cursive also trains our brains (left and right) which is so important to everything we do. I just love to read beautiful handwriting. I love to see how a person’s penmanship changes over time. But I especially appreciate the time and effort you put into all your beautiful books. I know that you could save alot of time if you didn’t handwrite them all. But it just wouldn’t be the same. Of course, we’d still want and buy them because they would still be beautiful…..but they wouldn’t be all of you. We love all of you!
The interesting thing to me is that in the 1880’s Mark Twain was lamenting about modern times. . . he thought the world was way too crowded! About the new invention of the telephone, he said, “It is my heart-warm and world-embracing Christmas hope and aspiration that all of us, the high, the low, the rich, the poor, the admired, the despised, the loved, the hated, the civilized, the savage (every man and brother of us all throughout the whole earth), may eventually be gathered together in a heaven of everlasting rest and peace and bliss, except the inventor of the telephone.” I figure if lamenting about change is good enough for Mark Twain, it’s good enough for me. I really don’t mind the future; like most of us, I love being able to be more connected through email and blogs, but I do hope we can hold onto the past! I like both!
I wish I could say I loved cursive in grade school, but I’m not sure I “loved” anything except giggling with my girlfriends, doing cartwheels in dresses on the field, or playing four-square at recess… but lately, I’ve loved playing with my pointed pen. In fact, after taking a refresher class this past fall, I actually addressed my Christmas cards using my pointed pen and watercolor. So fun!
Just like my mom and her twin sister, I was blessed with being able to write in cursive in a very nice and pretty fashion. Throughout my life, I have been complimented many times…even at work from employers. Cursive is so much like drawing…I love it!! As I am getting older, and the “arthur” is setting in, it is taking a toil on this beautiful way of corresponding. But I will keep on until I cannot!!!
These gifts you are giving are wonderful…and I would be so happy to receive them if my name is drawn by “Vanna”…. 🙂
Dear Susan,
Thankyou for speaking up on behalf of cursive lovers everywhere! My daughters could not wait to learn cursive. I believe you are correct in your link between creativity and handwriting and unfortunately most children these days cannot write unless it is on some sort of electronic device. So sad. But take heart…my four children do not own any video games nor do we have television. What do they do(!?!) people often ask. They play! They are out in the woods building Hobbit houses or fairy houses or making swords out of fallen branches…you know, stuff children did before we plugged them in…and they are very happy people with whom you can actually have a conversation!
Enough ranting for now. But seriously, THANKS for letting us into your wonderful life.
XOXO Marybeth
Our huge games of hide and go seek on hot summer nights in the valley where we grew up — I wouldn’t change them for anything. We were lucky.
That’s what we did too, all the kids in the neighborhood, no matter their age, and luckily, my kids did too! In the summer it was so hot, but running & hiding somehow kept us cool? We yelled “ollie, ollie, auction, come in free”, and I’ve often wondered what the “real” words were supposed to be!!! I need to ask my grandchildren if they play that too!!! Thanks for the memory! ♥
Dear Susan,
Cursive is not dead! My one-and-only granddaughter lives in Lexington, KY and goes to a Montessori school. In preschool and kindergarten she has been taught to write in cursive! No printing, no manuscript, only cursive! She writes her mother notes and puts them in her empty lunch box. What treasures!
Sincerely, Karen G
Treasures!
I hate to see it go also. I tried and tried to do my best when I was learing to write cursive. I did ok but not as well as I’d have liked. Now both of my hands have been damaged and it is hard but I still try. *L* Oh well. It is something that I think needs to be taught. Hopefully things will turn around and they will continue to teach cursive. Next it will be math! Beware of that which we throw aside I think. To the teachers who are still teaching it good for you!!
I agree with you and Andrea from Boyertown, Pa. I love writing in cursive with different pens and papers. My husband showed me how to create my To Do List on the computer. I never use the computer. The whole idea is writing it beautifully with pen and paper.
Discontinuing cursive in school . . . Boo! Hiss! What a loss it would be for future generations. I love writing letters and make a point to send notes regularly to my little granddaughters, even tho I see them often. I want them to know the joy of receiving “real” mail, handwritten with with love (in cursive).
Thank you for shining your light on this topic. And, as always, thank you for you enjoyable blog.
The light is being shined by all of you! How great everyone is!
Love, love, love it! I’ve been homeschooling my four boys for ten years now and you can bet your bottom dollar, they can write cursive! They may hate it, but they’ll have it in their “tool box” forever! Thanks for the inspiration Susan (as always)! Tamara
Susan,
Love your post as always! 🙂
The sad thing about schools not teaching cursive anymore is that — not only will the kids not be able to write it but also will not be able to read it. So how could old diaries, letters, or handwritten “anything”, have any meaning to them as adults, if they can’t read them anyway? Definitely sad. Maybe some people would just call it “progress” or “keeping up with the times”………………… Doesn’t mean I have to like it though. 🙂
Thanks for the chance to win your wonderful prizes!
I’ve been a fan since I bought your 1998 calendar – my first Susan Branch calendar, and I give your calendar each year to family and friends; bought some of your products too; I get my online “willard” via my email, and now have to read the blog on a regular basis – just love everything about you! This is the first year I won’t have your calendar – there were none from all the stores I went to. I finally got to order from Online, however it never arrived, twas so disappointing. I’m still looking, and will not stop until I get one, no matter how old it is! I miss your ‘original’ handwriting – ‘uncomparable!’ Keep up with what you love doing! Thanks!
Thank you so much! Soon the new calendars will come out. . . we will have them here in my web store in case you can’t find them out there in the real world!
Hi Susan,
I also hope that the joy of writing cursive is never lost. I can’t imagine that. How will people sign their names? As a grandmother of eight dear children, I share our family history with them and continue family traditions and tell them why they are important. I would love to have the Grandma Tell Me Your Story book as well as the note cards and recipe keeper. You are so generous with your give aways as well with your ideas, and your life. Thank you for all that you share with all of us.
Susan – you are spoiling us with all these special giveaways! I remember when I was young and, instead of practicing cursive, practicing writing “pretty” with lots of loops and curls! These poor children of the new millinium – texting leaves no chance for individuality in their handwriting. I get a catch in my throat when I find things in my mother’s and my grandmother’s handwriting. And recently I came across an old cookbook that belonged to my paternal grandmother with her handwritten recipes inside the covers. I never met her, but now we have a connection! Long live the handwritten letter writers and I can’t wait for all the Cursive Day celebrations!
You deserve to be spoiled!!! xoxo
Dear Susan:
I am inspired to send more handwritten notes and letters, exchange recipes on handwritten cards and I especially love the idea of creating a “Grandmama” book with my grandsons.
Thank you!
Oh, Susan, you’ve convinced me…..as the years have gone by my handwriting has deteriorated (from lack of practice, yes!) and I’m one of those who has said that my chicken scratch wasn’t worth the bother. But your reference to some great, great grandchild who might enjoy seeing actual handwriting of mine is a VERY good reason to take it up again. Thank you, my friend. I’d LOVE that Grandma book, as I am a Gramma of 2 sweeties and another on the way!!
I’ll be sure to tell Vanna! Congratulations on the new little one, and of course, on the sweeties too!
What would life be without beautiful handwritten letters? In my teaching career I welcomed italic handwriting as an alternative method and the results were amazing. We have a generation with the most legible handwriting. Keyboarding skills and favorite fonts are the future and handwritten lettering will become a craft like calligraphy.
Dear Susan, you’ve hit it right on the head! I am a grandma and I write letters to my grandchildren and note cards to my daughter. I love receiving hand written letters, too! I have only one postcard with my father’s writing on it. He passed away in 1961 and I have some wonderful mementos of my mother’s hand writing who passed away in 1998.
We must write to keep this art alive!!!!!!!!
It’s like crocheting doilies, hand embroidery and such. We must pass it on!
Thank you for taking the time to write such a worthy post for us to share.
I’d love to win your lovely gifts and there are many who feel just as we feel.
Kate
Oh yes, knitting, crocheting, embroidery, quilting! And even cooking!
Cursive was sooooooooo important to the nuns that taught us in grade school. Their handwriting was much like yours and they were so proud of it. I still remember all those circles we had to draw. Loved it!
Susan, I think one of the reasons I like your blog and all of your charming artwork so much is the fact that your painting and penmanship flow together so beautifully. There is one word that describes you and your style… “enchanting”. When I open your blog every day and see that you have posted something new, I feel like I’ve just opened a letter from a very dear friend. I love to write in cursive, especially with my fountain pens and prefer actual letters to emails. Don’t get me wrong, I still email, text, tweet and facebook, but I always prefer to send cards with handwritten notes for any and all special occasions, especially thank you notes. I taught my children at a very young age, if you have time to cash the birthday check or open the gift that was mailed, then you have time to send the thank you note… always. I also heard that my grandson’s school (he’s in 5th grade) is no longer teaching cursive. So very sad. I will make it a point that he learns the true art of writing in cursive. As always, thanks for sharing, Susan.
That’s what I love too, a choice. I can either email, or I can write, because I know how to do both! Thank you for your kind comment, enchanting is such an enchanting word! 🙂
Letter writing has always been important to me and I am glad that in my small world, it is not a lost art. When my mom was alive (she passed away two years ago), we talked on the phone every day but we also wrote to each other two or three times a week. It was a mystery to my sister who isn’t a letter writer: “What the heck do you have left to say to each other?” she would query. Mom and I would fill our letters to each other with everyday things, and new recipes, and clippings of interest from newspapers and magazines. What fun!
I have a dear university friend who is an avid letter writer like me so letters continue to pepper Canada Post. Yes, admitedly sometimes we resort to emails, texts, and phone calls, but those letters are so much more valuable to each of us.
My first grandchild was born two months ago and I had mailed him a letter by the time he was two weeks old! Perhaps I can be his mentor in the art of letter writing!
How wonderful, he has his first letter, lucky boy!
Yes! Brenda, you can be the “mentor in the art of handwriting” to your grandson! I have written to my grand children since they were young (18 months, not 2 weeks!). I was determined to have them experience and fall in love with handwritten letters before they learned to type and email, and I succeeded! I get lovely letters from them (so far 33 with three on the way–tho’ not all of them can write yet! 🙂 and I try to answer them. It is difficult to keep up with them! The older ones email now, but they still write to me, as well. Congratulations on your new grand son. You are off to a great start!
I have horrible handwriting (professor my very first semester of college threatened to sue if he went blind trying to read my chicken scratching. I love sending greeting cards and usually just print them.
LOL. Printing is wonderful too! I forgot to say that! It’s the hand doing I love!
My first time leaving a comment! Writing letters has always been dear to me I love to read letters no matter who they belong to. It is fun to dig into my mother in law’s treasures and read her old letters. Thanks for inspiring us!!
Hello Susan, I too love cursive, I can remember practicing over and over to make my handwriting look wonderful. My Grandmother was my inspiration, her cursive was almost the same as a textbook – just beautiful and fancy! I actually have an old letter that my father wrote to his grandmother back in 1930, it was the tiniest letter and the postage was only 2 cents. It is a treasure. My father was only about 4 years old, but my grandmother had him already writing in cursive. I hope that such precious memories, and heirlooms never get forgotten.
Most Sincerely, Patti H.
My first time leaving a comment! Writing letters has always been dear to me I love to read letters no matter who they belong to. It is fun to dig into my mother in law’s treasures and read her old letters. Thanks for inspiring us!!
I, too, always got good grades in school for my penmanship and was very proud of that fact. We have two grown children (both married, who have given us 5 fabulous grandchildren) in their forties and even today they will kid me about the ‘pretty’ note paper and perfect penmanship I would use when I wrote notes to their teachers. They also bring up how ‘perfect’ I would write their names on their lunch bags and how carefully I’d fold the top of the lunch bag down. Fun memories to laugh about! We were always taught how important your ‘signature’ was when signing important documents and now you can sign electronicly and it’s accepted as the original! As my Mother would say, “what is this world coming to”?
Susan, I think your handwriting is beautiful. When I was young I always thought my Mother had pretty handwriting, always the same. She is now 86 & her hands are shaking & her writing has changed. I still hand write notes to several of my friends & have a few people I write. Thank you for having the giveaway of your goodies.
Oh, Susan, I so agree with you. It breaks my heart to know that my grandchildren won’t learn cursive! My dad had the most amazing handwriting. And I pride myself in being able to hold my own in that area.
I’d love to win your contest as I have a brand new 4 month old grandson who I would love to give that book to.
Thanks for the contest and thanks for the post as well!!!
LONG LIVE CURSIVE! It must always live. My handwriting is not what I would like it to be. My mother grew up in a small Iowa farmtown and was educated at a very small Catholic grade school by nuns. Her handwriting was so very beautiful, even when she was 84. It’s funny, but her sisters and her friends handwriting were also so beautiful. Makes sense I guess since probably the same nun taught them all cursive, but all their styles were so close in resemblance. I only wish
I was taught like they were. I love your cursive, Susan. I’m a little embarassed to admit, sometimes I sit down with a paper and pen and try to copy the style of your letters. Mine doesn’t look too awfully bad, in no way as pretty as yours, but after about 5 words, I’m worn out. It must come to you second nature. But anything in great length would take me all day, so I fall back again on my sloppy old handwriting. Maybe I just need to practice more? You’ve got a lot of talent there; your dad was so right!
Another wonderful post Susan – fills me with nostalgia of better days but I often wonder: “does nostalgia cloud my memory and trick me into believing everything was better way back when….?” I don’t know if it’s the same in America but, here in Australia, a lot of children hold their pens and pencils with a claw-like grip – like a cockatoo would hold a stick. It looks very unattractive! I love lettering and take commissions to paint children’s names on a variety of items – parents LOVE their children’s names and I’ve often thought it would be a very successful career for someone who is able to do it full time (someone in ‘girlfriend land’ might have time to start a new career). Let’s bring back letter writing so we can again have that wonderful feeling of anticipation when going to the letterbox!
Thank you for sharing your beautiful memories of real letters on real paper, and in real books! As a middle school English teacher in a very high tech school, it saddens me to realize what we’re losing…and may never get back. I love to send students handwritten cards at Christmas and for major achievements–and they are SO much more excited to receive them from me than when I send them email! I can’t imagine a world where we can’t look forward every day to the mail arriving, and to sorting it into “personal” and sales/bills. Who will forget that feeling of seeing a hand-lettered envelope with her own name spelled out across it?!
Never having been married, and with no children nor grandchildren, I doubt seriously that there will ever be anyone who would treasure my handwriting as I do my mother’s and father’s, but I still believe in the hand written word and love to send notes to people. My handwriting is more like printing as teachers complained about my curlycues and such in high school and forced me to print. Anyway, it is me. Would be delighted to win something and pass it on to another if need be. Thank you for all you do Susan.
I love cursive writing and always have! I will never forget when I was just starting elementary school I could not wait until I was in the third grade, because that is when we would learn how to write cursive! Of course I had to try before then and my mother had the most beautiful handwriting so I would try to copy hers. I hope they do not stop teaching cursive, I want my grandbabies to learn to write cursive so I may just have to teach them myself!!
This post is right up my alley! I have always loved handwriting and received many compliments through the years. (Although I am no artist, yet!) My children have learned to write at home. One of my boys seemed to have no interest in handwriting until a few months ago at age 11. He asked me to teach him and after really working on it for a few days, he has lovely handwriting. I can also relate to the old letters. We have a scrapbook of my husband’s grandmother (born in 1900) with love letters from her husband who died young in 1945 and letters from her Mom. We love them! We also have a copy of his grandfather’s joural that started when he came to America from Germany.
One thing I wanted to tell you about was a little project the children and I did a few years ago. Each child wrote out 3 or 4 questions such as what was your favorite day, did you like to read, if so what is your favorite book, what was school like, etc. We made several copies of these and sent them to all the older relatives that were left. The answered questions are treasures now with a glimps of what life used to be like. I only wish we had done it sooner before many of them passed. Thank you for this wonderful post!
My best friend moved away when I was in the seventh grade. For YEARS we wrote to each other every week. I had a moving box of her letters in the bottom of my closet. Unfortunately, as an older teen or college student, I cleaned out my closet and threw them all away one day. So sad! I wish I had kept a few at least. As a homeschooling Mom, I am teaching my children cursive and the lovely art of letter writing!
I am an educational therapist and work with children with dyslexia and dysgraphia. I too am dismayed about the demise of cursive handwriting in our schools. The sequential finger movements involved in cursive writing are neurologically stimulating to the developing brain. I am thankful that the private school that I practice in, currently continues to teach cursive writing to the young children, but I feel like it may be on a ‘slippery slope’. I plan to send this blog entry to all of the parents of my students and to the ‘powers that be’ at my school to bring more awareness to the benefits of cursive writing from someone like you, who was so affected by this most important skill. Thank you for your passion, wisdom, and attention to something so simple, yet so profound.
Wow, what a post! I believe that the best way to save cursive is to use cursive writing all the time. No more writing in print. It’s cursive or nothing!!
Happy Cursive day ladies!
PS
Don’t forget to spring those clocks forward!
Dear Susan,
I love waking up to find one of your newsy letters in my inbox!
You’re encouraging and positive comments enliven my life!
I enjoyed seeing your comments about writing letters because I have always liked to write letters (and still do).
Thank you for being you!
Delores
It is Saturday evening and I just had to check your blog! So glad I did because I, too, love handwriting! In high school, I would even practice writing with my left hand just in case I ever broke my right hand! I had also read, like you, that schools were moving toward no longer teaching cursive. This saddens me alot as I enjoy handwriting and everyone’s handwriting is different…unique just like them! Your handwriting is an art and is so much fun to look at as well as read! My grandfather wrote me a lovely poem the day before he died in 1958…I still have it! I love when I come across it and get to read it again in his own handwriting! I am a grandma and it would be fun to win your gifts and begin writing my story to my grandchildren! Thank you for a lovely post!
Hello Susan Branch! I heart you so much! You make me happy. 🙂
I have always loved your books and writings, I can’t remember when I started reading them, but I am now 30 and I am inspired by you. I am starting to write more cursive now because of you. I have your calender, your planner, about 3 of your books, and I want more!
I love your blog and all that you are.
I hope you are enjoying your weekend.
Love,
Raquel in Sunny Southern California
It was sunny garden weather here too yesterday afternoon, although our only recognizable flower bigger than the head of a pin right now is the snowdrop. Say hello to California for me!
Receiving letters are also a favorite thing of mine. My granddaughter only lives about 10 miles away and we still enjoy exchanging letters. It’s so much fun to look in my mailbox and see a hand addressed envelope and I think she feels the same way! Thanks for reminding us of how special writing is.
Diana Jenks
(Cakelayer)
Susan, thank you so much for your blogs and for sharing your life with others. It makes me smile each and every time. I feel it’s so important that children today learn cursive and understand the fullfilment of the written word. I am currently working on cookbook for my daughter of recipes from home written by my hand. May she cherish it always and continue this tradition with own children someday. Again, thank you for all your love and inspiration you give to so many.
Hi Susan, I can remember my excitement when it was time for new school supplies before the school year started. My lettering pads and the new pencils were so much fun! My handwriting is terrible compared to many, my Mom’s especially, but I so enjoyed the writing class. My writing is not very pretty, but I enjoy writing and sending letters. I love looking at the postcards from my Grandpa, and letters and cards from my Mom. I have old receipts my Grandma saved from shopping and letters from family members I only know through old pictures and stories. Every one is different, and even though I never met some of them, I know who they are through their handwriting. I cannot imagine elementary school without those writing pads, and the fun of mastering (which I never quite did) the beautiful flowing lines. We only spent about half an hour every two days or so on strictly handwriting, but oh what fun! My Mom says they were taught the Palmer method of handwriting and it was a separate class, not just a class in a class like mine was. Her handwriting even now at 92 and after being very ill is STILL beautiful. I have always been so fascinated by those like yourself who can write so beautifully. I like to hope I make up for the lack of lovely handwriting somewhat, by making the letters very pretty with paper, ribbons, and labels. Then they are, I hope, something to savor and hold and come back to.
I love this post, it really touched me. W hen I went to school I love writing my letters printing and cursive, I would spend hours doodling letters and numbers, writing in my diary, and I was always the best in penmanship, at the time I didnt think any one else cared but me, Now that I have entered into my fabulous fiftys I am getting back in touch with all the things I have always loved, thats also thanks to your blog , I am so grateful to have found it, your are my soul sista….
Hi Susan,
I’m with you on the apparent demise of cursive being taught in the shcools. When I was a child, I couldn’t wait to get to 2nd grade, which is when cursive was taught. I also share your love of letters, as I am fortunate to have a few friends who still love smail mail. I treasure old letters of my grandmother’s. I even kept the cards my mother has written to me in the last few years, which I’m very grateful to have done–she now is in a state of profound dementia and no longer knows any of us, and re-reading these cards is a comfort.
Marian
I love cursive writing and I would hate for this word of Art go away. I love to write notes and letters…I am not very good, but it is the thought that counts. I have a 5 year old granddaughter and between her mother and I, cursive will be taught.
Thank you Sue for each delightful Blog
Pamala
I LOVE CURSIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!! …and I LOVE LOVE LOVE your handwriting!
your how to be happy cards i would love to win. My baby sister is fightinting a second battle with breast cancer. And to be able to send her a gift of how to spend the reminder of what she has left in live to inspise her to be happy would be a wonderful gift…
Give her my love Janice! xo
In an earlier post Sue Rideout wrote of how she was going to send letters from her late friend to her friend’s daughter. Many years ago (1970) I received a manila envelope filled with letters my mother had written to her best friend. They went from her early marriage to when I was thinking about college and career choices. What an incredible gift. My Mother had died when I was 19 so I never really knew her as one woman to another…this letters gave me great insight into her. Now to cursive…I grew up with Palmer Method and never was taught to print…now my printing is a mix of lower case and upper case..and a few bits of palmer thrown in. Naturally I much prefer cursive and hope to teach my granddaughters! A wonderful blog. Sue. Many thanks.
Dear Susan,
What a lovely post to come home to today. I am moving my 87 year old mother to retirement community this week, and I came home tonight dog tired and ready for bed. Before turning in, I checked emails to see what has been happening of late, and there was your lovely post for today. I am a letter writer and card writer and was taught by my mother that you thanked a person properly with a handwritten note, no later than 48 hours after you received a gift. I have followed that rule all my life.
Today Mom and I were going through memory boxes and found a box of letters my father had sent to his parents when he was in the Pacific and Czechoslovakia during WWII. When I saw the writing on the envelope, I knew it was a letter from him without opening it….he had exquisite handwriting and I always loved to watch him write with his lovely fountain pen (I collect them!). My Mom did not remember the letters at all so reading them was a very special moment for us both since we lost him over 30 years ago. He too would have loved your post.
Thank you for your I Love Cursive Day and all that entails! I know it is a dying art but I will never give it up until my hands can no longer function…
My brother died in 1979, and yet I hold in my hand a letter he wrote home to my Mom in 1949 asking her to buy me some roller skates for my birthday. I still have the scars on my knees from learning to use those skates and I love holding in my hand that long ago evidence of his love for a little sister.
Shirley, that is so sweet! How lucky for you to have that letter!
I was introduced to you by a friend many years ago and only now, I am thinking that you are my identical twin…from different parents! Beautiful handwriting, cursive, became my penultimate goal in second grade when I saw a fourth grader’s paper that I thought looked more beautiful than mine. And alas, my grandchildren, ages 10 and 7 have received no instruction or exercises in penmanship, whatsoever. Is it that the public school teachers have no knowledge of the same or is it that multiculturalism and ‘individuality’ are stressed instead? I see it as a symptom of greater problems…
I second many of the posts, herein, mother’s and grandmother’s recipe cards, my parents’ love letters, pen pal correspondence, notes found in family Bibles, my father’s diary when he took his first round the world sailing voyage at age 17, my grandfather’s daily diary and receipt lists…all more poignant and heartfelt than any printed word on a page.
Thank you for “I Love Cursive Day”. I will think of you with each letter and card that I write.
From your peer who like daVinci wrote letters to my friends in backwards cursive and who grew up to be an oil painter.
Thank you for all that you have done and continue to do.
Most respectfully,
Christine
Thank you Christine, we are birds of a feather!
Susan,
If I had a choice I would use my best handwriting and tell you how sad it makes me. What is going on with this generation, they text instead of talk, and now they are doomed to type instead of ‘write’! I shall make it my aim as a Grama to teach my grandchildren to write as soon as they are of age, currently, they only draw and color! We will tilt our paper and hold our pen in the proper angle too!
Tammy
Dear Susan….
I have a love of handwritten notes… dont you just get giddy when you open one up? I have a darling pen pal that I have never met in Argentina, and I dream of what she is like, we write hand written letters every other week, her cursive is so beautiful!
Thank you so much for this post…. and the lovely giveaway!
Cary
Hi Susan,
I loved The Story of Your Life in your own handwriting. I wish I had something like that from my childhood. It helps us remember what we were thinking, what we were doing at that time, what we enjoyed, etc. But I did write in my diary, I only wished I wrote more legibly! Some diaries I’ve destroyed for I wouldn’t want anyone else reading them but some I’ve kept and they really delve into what I was experiencing. I never knew my grandmothers so I think writing in your book for grandmothers is such a wonderful idea! I only wish they could have written something of their lives so I would have a better idea of just who they were and what their lives were like.
Thank you for a wonderful blog, as always, Susan.
Pat
What a thrill it is each time I open your blog! This one about handwriting is really inspirational. I grew up 2400 miles away from my grandmother and remember writing to her and deciphering her letters when she wrote back. She was French-Canadian, and would write in broken English, often putting her words in the wrong order, what we used to call ‘cart before the horse’ style. As an avid scrapbooker I, too, appreciate the importance of having actual handwriting on the memory-saving pages. Thank you for keeping the art of writing alive and desirable. You inspire me! Blessings to you! Lisa
I only recently heard about this tragedy. It’s is so sad that this is happening. How will these children know how to sign a legal document if they can’t write in cursive?
After a rather tough day, it was so nice to see I had something from my friend, Susan Branch! :o) Your blog, your website, all that is Susan Branch makes me smile. You are a breath of fresh air and I appreciate you! I have always thought you had the most beautiful writing! Have a wonderful rest of the weekend!
Oh, how I have loved your March calendar page. The note to your grandmother, in which you assured her that you believe your dog will survive the encounter with a tick–I could have written that at age ten or last week (age 47).
And what will ever take the place of the reassurance and thrill of seeing familiar handwriting on an envelope? After someone has passed, seeing their handwriting is especially sweet, almost like being wrapped in their hug once more.
Long live cursive! Viva handwritten!
The encounter with the tick was with my baby brother Chuckie!!! “We think he will live” — that came directly out of my mother’s mouth and into my pencil! Viva Handwritten!
Beautiful post! I always tell everyone that I still handwrite notes instead of emailing because … well, let’s face it … no one saves typed emails. How boring is that? I love, love handwritten notes and letters. I framed a couple letters my grandmother wrote me in the 60s when I was little. I love them!
I do save my dad’s emails, but that’s because he always makes me laugh!!
Dear Susan, Thank you for bringing this Cursive issue to everyone’s attention. I too have a story. Recently, I was writing a check (see what a dinosaur I am!) and the high school aged girl was riveted and told me she didn’t know how to do that. Do what, write a check? No, she meant cursive! She did not know how to write cursive! How can this be??????? Then, she told me they don’t teach it anymore.Right then and there I decided that as long as I live, I will use cursive teach it to my grandchildren if need be. In fact, for Christmas I asked for and received the Spencerian System of Practical Penmanship, so I can improve my writing.
By the way, I love “snail mail” and I too have had a pen pal for over twenty years! Thank you again for this valuable post. I read about it on my sister’s blog tales from an oc cottage. You might like to know that she did her entire post in Cursive! Very Sincerely, Katia P.S. I was born at St. Mary’s in Long Beach, CA in 1956. 🙂
We could have a St. Mary’s Hospital reunion here I think! 🙂 Thank you Katia!
I remember learning to write cursive in school and our teacher impressed how important good penmanship was. THEN she told us we would learn to write with a fountain pen when we came back from Christmas break. Everyone was so excited and I remember how fun it was to use those pens and do our best writing because of them. Children who aren’t learning cursive writing in school are missing a unique opportunity to be able to show their individuality and creative spirit not only with the written symbols, but expressing themselves through the process. Thank you for sharing and helping me remember–oh to see my grandma’s or my mom and dad’s handwriting…bring them to me every time. XO
Love this posting. I was just telling some friends that the schools were not going to be teaching cursive any more and they didn’t believe me. I think it’s a crying shame. I hadn’t thought about it but you’re right … it is a form of art. I attended 12 years of Catholic school and that is the only way we were taught. Each letter was to end with the tail of the letter pointing up to heaven. I hate to have to “print” … it hurts my brain…. it doesn’t feel natural. I fear that the younger generation won’t be able to read it if they don’t learn to write it. What will they be missing? Cursive becoming a lost ART is a sad thought. Say it aint so……
I was telling my daughter just last week how they were going to take cursive writing out of school, she told me she was going to make sure she taught her daughter. I would love to win the grandmother book. a couple weeks ago my three year old grand daughter was in my art room with me and she came across my garden journal. which i sketch in a picture here and there to bring some color into it. (of course its also a lot of fun too) but back to the story she picked it up and brought it to me. she was so fasinated by it. anyway I promise her that someday it would be hers. I think she would love me to fill out the grand mother book. And I would enjoy doing it Nancy
No cursive writing! That would be like telling Virginia there is no Santa Claus. As a former elementary school teacher, I loved teaching my students how to write in cursive. I have all the letters my mother wrote to me when I was a freshman in college and away from home for the first time. I treasure every hand written recipe card my now deceased sister gave me. I still take great pride in my penmanship and love to write letters. Cursive writing lives. Let it live forever! Newsman Francis Pharcellus Church told Virginia in 1897, when assuring her there was truly a Santa Claus, “ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood”. I hope we can say the same for cursive.
I loved reading the story of your life written in cursive. I always knew that we were kindred spirits, but how is this for coincidence? Iwas born in Long Beach, in Saint Mary’s Hospital, at the end of 1946. I also went to Minnie Gant! Can you believe it? We may have even been in the same class, or maybe played on the playground together.
My kindergarten teacher was Miss Caldwell. My first grade teacher was Miss Galloway. So it’s very possible! But then we moved to the San Fernando Valley.
You write about a subject very near and dear to my heart – the art of writing and sadly its near imminent death. I sadly peruse my children’s messy printing without being able to convince them of the importance of being able to write in cursive.
Through handwritten notes I forged a special bond of friendship with my grandmother that was unique just to us. She would enjoy my news over tea, completely centered on what I had to tell her.
I sorted out my feelings, confusion and sorrows in the pages of my journals. I reread sometimes to see how far I’ve come, and to remind myself that the trials of today work themselves out and aren’t truly worth all the worry I’m ascribing to them.
In written form I’ve tried to leave each of my children letters, one for every year alive, describing the highs and lows that we experienced together. How very important they are to my existence, the memories and love that fill my life.
There is no act equal to putting words on paper and portraying it with the sweep of a pen.
In friendship,
Karrie
There will always be people who treasure the past and what came before, I’m sure writing, letters, and diaries will always matter to people like us!
Hi Susan and all the girls (are there any men here, other than the famous Joe?)!
You might be surprised that you are being read even in Switzerland. I am a very big fan of yours! You are such a source of inspiration and encouragement! Even though, sometimes it is overwhelming too, because it is beyond me how you can handle all the wonderful things you do AND still keep a diary, garden, take all those great pictures, be so creative, be a wife, go for daily walks, give big dinners… How on earth are you doing all this?
With regard to the issue on cursive, you can all calm down! Maybe cursive is dying out in the States, but here in cursive heaven Switzerland, all children learn it in 3rd grade. So, apart from the bad boy bankers, there are obviously still some positive things over here!
With a big hug from Switzerland,
Connie
Hi Connie in beautiful Switzerland!! So nice to hear from you . . . as for how “I do it,” well, I don’t do everything every day! A little of this, a little of that.
I couldn’t agree more! I know, if no one else in this world cares what words I have written, my children will treasure my thoughts. Our schools in Georgia no longer teach cursive writing either, at least in our district and it breaks my heart. But because I believe it is so important, I am teaching my girls anyway. Both of them love seeing thier progress as they get better!