单选题 It is easy to say letters are a (n) (21) way for family members to (22) in touch when the children (23) schools and jobs or (24) families of their own. But what if you think letter writing is not your strong point? And your long-distance phone bill (25) a national debt? Here are some advisable thoughts:
Begin a post-card exchange. The message space is small but (26) is the (27) of home that counts. And it can be (28) . Cards (29) from the silly to the poetic; from seasonal scenes to famous paintings from art museums.
Operate a clipping service. Envelopes (30) with news items and cartoons are a welcome sight at mail call. Watch newspapers and magazines for articles that amuse or inform. You might (31) a few brief comments in a note--soon you might be writing a whole letter. A daughter found a story about the joys (and hazards) of wallpapering a room and sent it to her mother with a written (32) of her childhood memories of that experience in their own household. She discovered letter writing was easy when she (33) her own experience.
Send greeting cards which say "thinking of you." Busy young people find this an especially helpful way to fill the spaces between long, catching-up-to-news-letters.
Use little note papers instead of lettersheet. Again, the writing space is small, but your thoughtfulness will be appreciated.
Some organizations sell cards and notepapers as fund-raisers; for example, UNICEF (34) money for the United Nations Children Fund with all-occasion cards and stationery designed by famous artists world-wide. This enables your message to do double to contact a loved one with (35) to a cause.
Send mementos from things you do. A theater program, a movie review from the newspaper--they can put into words that you want to say.
Begin a photo-of-the-month exchange. (36) the family album or take pictures of family faces and places. A mother sent her son of his childhood photos and found herself writing memories she had never shared. Her son, deeply (37) , replied: "Send me more of my life history."
Keep a (38) . An executive wrote a paragraph a day before leaving his office and (39) the paragraphs at the end of the week to his daughter. "At first it was pretty mundane," he said, "but soon I was looking for interesting things to write about and it became a real dialogue between us."
Remember, it is not a skill with words that (40) ; it is the sight of an envelope from a family member.