The postman's knock

And none will hear the postman's knock
Without a quickening of the heart.
For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?
~W.H. Auden

The postman no longer knocks, and my mailbox usually only contains bills, magazines, and advertisements.  But in the age of e-mail, I could substitute the sound of mail arriving in my electronic mailbox for the postman's knock in W.H. Auden's poem.  

E-mail has been a blessing to my family since the day that we began going "online".  Even in the early days of dial-up modems, e-mail did wonders for our ability to stay in touch.  We aren't a family in love with the telephone - never have been - we like to talk  face-to-face.  But we are a close knit family and most of us love to write.  When we were planning a family beach trip last year, we exchanged about 70 e-mails before we had it all worked out.  

My father used to print his e-mails and save them, just as he saved the letters we wrote.  

In these early weeks following my father's death,  since we've all had to go back to our everyday lives, almost daily e-mail communications have been a comfort.

Sir, more than kisses, letters mingle souls; for, thus friends absent speak.  ~John Donne