John Van Nostrand: VAN It means something

Nov. 30—Before Thanksgiving, I received a piece of junk mail that I actually was interested in and made me think of what it can lead to and what I have done.

I received a catalog of luxury writing pens. I have collected a few over the years. When you have a career as a writer, it's common to have someone gift you a nice pen. Some cost more than I want to afford. But that's OK as there are a couple of brands I have enjoyed and fit better in my bank account. I've never tried a fountain pen, glamorized in movies set in the 1800s with a little jar of ink off to the side. I never had the interest, or patience, to figure out how those things work and write.

But there are times when I do have the time to share a note.

Many years ago while living in Colorado, my son had a doctor's appointment in Denver. The drive was about two hours. The same day of the appointment a forecast snowstorm was to arrive. Knowing the distance and headaches of rescheduling, we took off with the hopes of having the appointment finished by the time the snow fell. The appointment went well, the weather was still good, so we didn't feel as pressured.

We had some time and thought it would be a good opportunity to try a restaurant we saw on a television show. That's when things got strange, but in a good way. The place was packed and the wait was long. We spent longer in there than we wanted. The food was worth the wait, but the weather finally turned for the worse. No, we didn't have to eat there, but we didn't know when we would get another chance.

We were told our road home was not in good condition. We didn't want to try to make it back home in those conditions, so we made last-minute arrangements with relatives in the area to stay overnight. We were safe and comfortable for the night.

The sun rose the next day and it was safe enough to drive home. Along the way we saw the snow that had been cleared and the many vehicles in the ditches or median waiting to be towed. It must not have been a pretty site during the storm.

Then it hit me. I wondered if having to stay longer for the food at the restaurant prevented us from attempting to drive home in the weather. Could we have stayed ahead of the storm and got home if we didn't eat? Was it fate our wait took so long to safely prevent us from returning home?

A few days went by and I decided to write a letter to the restaurant telling them how good it was for our family. We all enjoyed it. Remembering the weather, I also explained how our extended wait may have prevented us from driving home in the snow and maybe ending up in a ditch.

A restaurant manager wrote back and was appreciative of the compliments and explained how business has been strong and apologized for our wait. The manager included a certificate for another visit.

We live in a such a fast-paced world. It's become so easy, maybe too easy, to send a text to someone or send them a message through their social media sites. There is nothing inherently wrong with doing that. It, too, may have helped during an emergency, or something that needed quick attention.

But there is something about writing a letter. I've read where people who study psychology claim writing can force the writer to be more intentional and thorough when explaining the subject of the letter. It will have meaning. Sure, you can do the same thing with a keyboard. But the pen takes more effort which means the writer should want to do it right the first time.

Those notes and thoughts don't have to be for a letter to a business, like my example. The same can be applied to the inside of a greeting card for a person who recently lost a loved one or celebrating a milestone in life. We are less than four weeks away from Christmas. I hope Christmas cards still are part of traditions. It's nice to see the Christmas cards from the families that give a rundown of what happened during the year.

But sometimes when people read handwriting giving them appreciation or encouragement, it gives a feeling a keyboard and printer can't.