From The Garage Catacombs: Letters and Peace

Post written by Laura Cococcia. You can follow Laura on Twitter.

Recently, my dad cleaned out the garage. Thankfully, I didn’t have to help.

He finds many, many things in what he calls “Dad’s Garage Catacombs.”

This go-around, he uncovered an amazing treasure – at least in my mind. It was an article I had written in 11th grade – right about when I started to exercise my writing muscles. I wrote it in the hope of inspiring people to think across cultures and about peace during the time of the Gulf War.

It was originally published in The Ridgefield Press as a Letter to the Editor on Thursday, January 10, 1991. While I’d love to edit the heck out of this (oh so many structural and grammatical changes I would make!), I thought it best to leave it in its original form. The message is what counts.

To the Editors:

There is one thing so special about the Middle Eastern area of the world that probably none of us stopped to think about. Nineteen hundred and ninety one years ago a little baby with the name of Jesus entered the world.

He was born in Nazareth, ironically enough in the Middle East.

God has bestowed upon us a gift. Since World War II, we have associated the Middle East with so many horrific things, probably even rightfully so. It is nice though, to know that the Gulf area does not have an altogether bad history. Iraq and Saudi Arabia, for example, may not have a majority of Christians, however that is not the focus.

This town of Ridgefield, let alone this country, has been praying for our crisis, our leaders and most of all, our young men and women.

No matter what your individual religion may be: Jewish, Christian, Muslim, etc., we are all still told to have faith.

Maybe God will bestow upon us another gift in that same area. This time its name will be peace.

Laura Cococcia, Ridgefield High School, Grade 11

On Writing Letters

The above message, for me, still holds true. But what about the medium of letter writing itself? Has the practice stood the test of time?

After writing this draft, I thought long and hard about this question.

Here are some of my admissions and observations:

I truly can’t remember the last time I wrote an actual letter, using my hand and a pen. I miss them. They reflect the connection between two persons and personalities, one that gives and one that receives.

My handwriting is abominable compared to what it was just ten years ago. Emails and texts find me anywhere at any time. Twitter allows me to share my thoughts briefly in 140 characters our less.

An “I love you” text message does not count the same as an *I love you* card. Sorry if that’s a let down to the text-messaging obsessed. It just doesn’t. This I know to be true.

In my mind, the slow demise of letter writing makes me sad. The practice is drastically underrated. It’s been left in the dust in the wake of the Internet.

I’m not knocking technology at all – information is universally accessible, which is a fabulous freedom. But, I admit, there are things, like writing cards and letters, that I’ve stopped doing, because they take more time than Tweeting a hello.

Time to stop moaning and ask a different question: What if we all wrote one letter this week – about something, to anyone? Could we in fact start somewhat of a cultural letter-writing revolution without the annoying chain letter part?

Food for discussion: What and when was the last pen-to-paper letter you wrote? If you’re not writing them anymore, do you miss it or is your life easier? (P.S.: If you wrote an actual letter in the past two years, you get extra credit.)

As my Dad would say: “Laura, you have a lot of questions.”

But perhaps the answers aren’t that complicated: Maybe letters are the next wave of the future. Maybe peace is too.

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Tagged as: Laura Cococcia, Spirituality, Writing