It's Over

Remember that scene on Searching for Bobby Fischer where the parents have been banned from the chess tournament and are getting their updates on the championship match from the little boy who keeps running into the room with the latest play?

"Queen takes pawn."
"Josh is in trouble. He's down another pawn."
"Knight takes rook."
"Petey just hung his rook!"

And then the final announcement, the boy not running this time, rather walking slowly and with his head hung low: "It's over."

I've felt like this boy as I've written to my brother (who currently can only get letters and is pretty much cutoff from all media outlets) and given him an update after each of the games in the NBA finals. We both wanted the Spurs to win (as I hope the majority of the world did), so it was fun to report such tidbits as, "Spurs win game 1!" and "Spurs win game 5! They lead 3-2!" And considering that Fischer was a favorite family movie growing up, I have no doubt that he'll know exactly what happened when he reads my post script on today's letter. "It's over."
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Writing Letters

It's a lost art, really. I remember one of my favorite things to receive as a child was stationary, all kinds, the more options I had to choose from the better. I remember exchanging letters with my little friends once I moved to Oregon, how excited I was when a letter arrived, how quickly I responded in the hopes that their responses would be just as quick. I remember how depressed I became one day when after opening the mailbox I found not a letter from one of my friends, but the letter I had put in the box the previous day, now with a note scribbled on the corner from the mailman: "Needs stamp." Epic fail. And now my forgetfulness had cost me a whole day.

Email has of course eliminated the old-fashioned letter almost entirely (as well as the company christmas card), and now the days where I actually get a personal piece of mail are very rare. I'm sure we could all say the same thing. Which is why the last month has been a treat for me. I'm temporarily only able to communicate with my brother via letters, and in this day and age, what an experience that is. I look forward to his letters, knowing each one involved him taking the time to write out his thoughts on pen and paper. His handwriting, small and at times hard to read, is a piece of him, and at the risk of sounding gag-ably trite, I think there's something about writing letters that really bonds people. So write one. Today. And don't forget the stamp.
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