Great day for U.S. -- great day for letter writing!

As I write this, CBS is airing schoolchildren reading aloud the letter that Barack Obama wrote to his daughters, Sasha and Malia. The letter can be read in-full at Parade Magazine's Web site.

What a great gift to his daughters! When you read the letter, you'll see that he discusses current events, as well as his own personal life and history, and what he expects and hopes for their future together. He gives them some guidelines for how he hopes that they'll lead their lives, and he tells them how proud he is of them.

I hope that parents all over the world will take a cue from the new U.S. President and write a letter to their own children. Write a letter; slip it under their pillow or drop it in the mailbox so they'll get a wonderful envelope to open! Share yourself with your children in a way that they will be able to cherish forever.

Other letters that were mentioned in the news today include the letter that outgoing President Bush wrote to incoming President Obama and the letter that Bush's daughters, Barbara and Jenna wrote to Obama's daughters with advice about being the daughters of the president. They offered advice about friends, puppies and sliding down the banister in the White House.

How wonderful that letter writing has taken such a spotlight on this historic day!

10 Reasons to Write a Letter

1. It's personal — The recipient of your letter knows that not only did you think about him or her but that you took the time to sit down, put pen to paper and record your thoughts.

2. It's personalized — You can choose a card or stationery and envelope that matches your personality. If there's no stationery that matches you, you can make your own!

3. It's lasting — Oh sure, lots of people save e-mails, but who actually pulls them out of the archives and reads them again? Letters can be saved and cherished for generations.

4. It can be romantic — Spritz a little perfume on the paper, tuck in a wildflower from that bouquet he picked for last summer, end it with Xs and Ox....

5. It's cheap — A piece of paper, an envelope, a stamp and a pen, and you have something that the recipient will treasure forever.

6. It's controlled — There's no chance you'll accidentally send a handwritten letter to everyone in your address book, like you can mistakenly do with e-mail.

7. It lets you spread good news — The economy, the war, crime...the news can be so depressing these days. A letter from you gives your recipient some good news for a change. Tell him or her how your kids are doing in school, that you saw a bluebird in the front yard yesterday, even just that you thought of them today. It'll brighten their day!

8. It's tangible — A letter can be held, carried around, slipped under a pillow, re-read at the coffee shop. Oh, I know about Blackberries and other ways of reading e-mail in the coffee shop, but it's not the same. Trust me. It's not the same.

9. Technology won't make it obsolete — I can read the handwritten letters that my great-great-great-grandmother wrote to my great-great-grandfather more than 100 years ago. Will your great-great-great-grandchildren be able to read your e-mails in 100 years? I'll bet they'll still be able to read your hand-written letters, though!

10. It takes time — This means there are fewer chances for you to say something you don't mean. More time for you to say the right thing, to say it the way you really want to say it. A well-thought letter shows you took time for the recipient.

Now, what reasons do you have for writing a letter? Share them with us in the comments section!

By the way, I stayed on schedule and wrote my eighth letter last night.

Cheating? I don't think so!

Yesterday's letter, I wrote to my daughter.

At first, I wondered if that would be cheating. She's only 8 years old, and she lives in the same house that I do.

But, then, I thought, no, it's not cheating. She received some good news yesterday — she was asked to be on the school's color guard, helping to raise and lower the United States flag outside the building every day. We're very proud of her for that achievement, and I wanted to let her know in a special way.

So, I wrote her a letter. A letter that I mailed to her.

She likes getting mail. Don't we all? It's so exciting to see an envelope with our name on it, sitting there in the mail box. But, we don't get much mail nowadays. We get e-mail, for which the computer voice announces "You have mail," but there's rarely a hand-addressed envelope in the mailbox.

Plus, my daughter will be able to keep this letter, maybe even put it in her scrapbook, and years later remember the honor and how proud we were of her.

Runs in the family

My letter writing project has inspired my 8-year-old daughter. She's been asking lots of questions about letter writing, and she's been writing letters lately. Ever since she's known how to write, she has written letters, but with my new project underway, she's started writing more.

I don't think she'll be able to keep up with one a day, but she's having fun. She decorates the envelopes, even making some on her own. And, she makes her own notecards. So far, she hasn't received any responses, at least not from her little third-grade friends. In the past, she's exchanged letters with my aunt.

Maybe her letters will encourage her friends to pick up this old-fashioned practice!

Project Status

Last night, I sat down and wrote a letter to an "old" friend from high school. We tend to communicate by e-mail nowadays, but I think she likes getting a hand-written letter from me occasionally.

2009: The Year of the Letter

I know, I know. With everything there is to do today, who has time to sit down and actually write a letter? We barely have time, some days, to hit "Reply" to an e-mail or tap out a text message response.

But, what better way to connect with the ones we love, to let them know that we think so much of them that we made time in our busy schedules to write a "real" letter?

I did a test-run last year, sending out about a month's worth of letters to family and friends. I deemed it a success, having received several letters in return, many from family and friends who were surprised to have received a real letter from me.

But, I wanted more. I wanted to do more. So, I developed this project, 365 Letters. It is my plan to write a letter a day throughout the year 2009.

I'll let you know how I'm doing through this blog. But, I don't want any letter recipient to think that they got a letter just so that I would have something to write about or so that I could meet my goal. My friends and family, and my connections to them, are the reasons for the project and this blog, not the other way around.

I hope my friends and family are happy to hear from me and that I'll get lots of letters in return!

I hope you'll join me in my quest to make 2009 "The Year of the Letter."