When I left home at 21 one of my memories is of my mother handing me an envelope at the airport as she waved me off.  It was a letter where she shared her love, hopes and wishes for my future.  I still have that letter. I have in many boxes, letters from my grandmothers, letters from school friends in childish handwriting complete with drawings of bunnies, and postcards and letters from my Dad as he travelled and lived interstate a lot. Especially treasured are the letters, cards and notes from my husband Brad and our three children.

My husband has a box of letters too, hundreds of letters from his Mum, Dad and sister sent to him during his years away at boarding school. Their handwriting is in recipe books, on the backs of photos and inscribed in the front of books too. Especially treasured are the  travel journals his mum wrote in the year she met his Dad on a cruise from Australia to New Zealand.

There is something special about seeing the handwritten words of someone who loves us. It really is like they leave a part of them with us. When we take those letters or a journal and read them, and the paper that once touched another's hand is in ours, we feel connected to them. Handwritten words are more powerful than any other. Our handwriting is a legacy to pass on. Let us leave notes on pillows, in lunch boxes and on the windscreens of others. Let us buy envelopes and fill them with classy stationery and use a beautiful pen. Let us extravagantly share handwritten thoughts and encouragement with our family and friends. Let us lavishly use sms, email and our handwriting to leave our legacy.