I've written quite a bit in recent weeks about the problem with keeping so much stuff. Beyond most of the bad excuses I've used over the years for doing so, one actually has merit—handwritten letters are a priceless preservation of family, friend, or relationship history. It could probably be argued that the preservation of such things isn't always a good thing—if they contain painful words meant only for one time period, or if they cause a person to stay stuck in the past, but I'm not talking about either scenario today.
I opened a box in my basement a couple of days ago and found a number of birthday cards and old letters. Some of them came from my dad and grandmother, who are both deceased now. One letter was from my high school sweetheart. Another was from a girl that I knew shortly after I graduated from high school. And two were from a female friend with whom I endured some difficult times during early adulthood. All of the cards and letters are great memories, preserved on paper, and available to read decades later.
I can't help but wonder if people will actually take the time to preserve e-mail in the same fashion. E-mail is now the norm for staying in touch. But is it so easy, and instant, and deletable, that we are failing to preserve it? I've changed e-mail programs probably five or six times since going online in 1994. I've had numerous computers. And with some exceptions, most of the personal e-mail I've received over the years is gone. I do have several hundred e-mails from my dad and various other friends and relatives saved on a floppy disk that I really need to find a better way to preserve. Maybe I ought to burn it on CD or find a way to preserve it in paper format—or both.
Twenty years from now, I want to be able to stumble across words written to me from people I love. What about you? Are you preserving e-mail you've received over the years with the same vigor that you've saved cards and letters?
