Gentry: The lost art of writing a good letter

Jeffrey Gentry
The News Journal
View Comments
The start of a letter written by the column writer's Uncle Tony to his sister, the column writer's mom,  two days before she was to give birth.

The date at the top of the first page of the hand-written letter is May 11, 1966. Two days before I was born.

The letter, from my Uncle Tony to Mama, his younger sister, is written in cursive in blue ink on thick unlined stationery.

Mama gave it to me to keep last week when I was visiting my parents on Memorial Day. She's taken to doing that lately. Perhaps wanting to make sure important things aren't lost somewhere along the way.

"Dear Brenda & Michael," the letter begins.

"My calendar reads May 11 and my clock says only 7 more hours until May 12 so you'd better hurry or you're gonna be late!"

Uncle Tony, a teacher at the time and through much of his life, goes on to tell Mama, his younger sister, that his class is anxiously awaiting news and have placed bets on when I would be born.

"I declare it's a regular gambling joint when you hear them talking," he writes. "I'm anxious to see who wins."

He then writes about how excited his and Mama's parents, my soon to be Mammy and Granddaddy, are for their first grandchild.

"Daddy is just as excited as anyone and he talks about it all the time," he writes. "Last night when I came in at at 11:00 p.m. he was awake and cut on the flashlight, gave me 4 dollars and told me to take his car up to Whitlow's and fill it up with gas because it only had a 1/4 of a tank and there might not be any stations opened when you called. So you can see Daddy is prepared."

Now if that isn't a telling statement about a lot of things. Four bucks to fill a car up with gas. Worried about a gas station not being open. In bed before 11. Using a flashlight instead of turning on a light.

The third page is mostly about school and dealing with the requirements of the Civil Rights Act. And a section about him umpiring a baseball game. Uncle Tony was not a slender man and makes note of that in one passage.

"I called balls-and-strikes for the boys' baseball game. I had to stand behind the pitcher and everyone agrees there were more stolen bases in this game than any they had ever seen because the catcher couldn't begin to see the 2nd baseman!!!"

Uncle Tony had a good sense of humor. When he passed away, the funeral home was overflowing with lives he had touched as a teacher, mentor and friend.

Uncle Tony was also a bit of a gossiper, as proven on the fourth page of the letter.

"Jackie and Jean Snow have separated again. He stole all towels, sheets and linens from the house after hitting Mrs. Snow and Jean a few licks. At the present time she's taking out a warrant and there are people who say it will be a sensational trial if it comes to court.

"I must close and get ready for prayer meeting.

"From all rumors, someone will be down your way this weekend – call or not.

"See you soon. Love, Tony."

Imagine what it would be like today. Forget a letter.

Mama would be getting a text that said:

Hey sis. (two heart emoticons) Thinking of U.

All the fun stuff in this letter would have been lost forever. Thankfully, this time, it wasn't.


View Comments