My Dearest So and So,
It is Friday morning and I am tranquilly typing these words to you amidst birds chirping, flowers blooming, and a cool breeze making its way through my screen door to caress my face after traveling all the way from the salted ocean. The only black cloud hanging over my head is that I know this letter will come to an end and when it does I will be forced to choose one word to close this correspondence for good. One word to sum up the emotion and intention of everything I have said, everything I have proposed, everything I have weaved together. In that final stitch of a word hangs the power to unravel or strengthen everything I have previously stated. In my younger years when letters through the post were the primary form of communication, next to the telephone, I would end with statements of "Sincerely" or "Yours Truly". But ending with those now feels a bit archaic. If my letter was sincere to begin with, I shouldn't have to reiterate that I am "Sincere" about my sincerity. It's redundancy that no one has time for anymore. "Yours Truly" seems to suggest that I am committed to something which is an impossible combination for one such as I born in "Generation X". It seems too formal and, God forbid, personal. So what is left to say? "Fondly"? "Best Regards"? "Yours Faithfully"? It feels that all these words carry such depth, such sincerity, if you will. I feel our culture has lost these terms of endearment, these terms of weight, these terms that state that something is committed and absolute, and full of emotion, and passion, and time spent in thoughtful writing.
I have no solution for this my friend. I currently only end my letters in "Love" to those I truly love. I often end my business letters in "Thank You" as I feel thankful that they have read and will hopefully respond to my letter. I've toyed around with "All the Best" but it still doesn't sit right. All the best what? Maybe these days a letter should end in "Conveniently Yours" (this would replace "Truly Yours" and would be more truthful, when it's convenient.); "Seriously" could replace "Sincerely" and would be the exact statement needed to make sure the reader knows the items you have typed out are in fact to be taken serious, because sometimes they're not; "Namaste" is always a crowd pleaser and shows your diversity through speaking another language, mixed with the mysterious phonetics of the east which proclaim peace in a yoga, prayer flag sort of way. Who doesn't agree with that one? There is also the dreaded text message ending that I have been left with countless times, "TTYL" (Talk To You Later) or "C U L8er" (See You Later). WTFIHTU? (WTF Is Happening To Us?)
So I'm now left with the big decision to figure out how I will end this correspondence with you. I have given you my time, of carefully crafting my words to say exactly what I had hoped. The pressure is now on and maybe now you are also wondering how I will end this letter of concern. I won't keep you in suspense any longer.
Seriously,
L. M. Fox