The lost art of letter writing that is giving way to emails and in some cases emails that are giving way to social media, is a source of concern to writer Simon Garfield. He writes a thought provoking article in the Wall Street Journal outlining his concerns that historians will no longer be able to piece together events as they have in the past by reading personal correspondence that have for hundreds of years been the primary source of historical information. Over the years I have personally saved all my letters from close friends and family that have helped me remember  long forgotten events and brought me back emotionally to important times in my life. Mr. Garfield laments the fact that family letters buried away in attics will be a thing of the past, as written communication gives way to a different form. Currently archivists at some of the world's largest institutions including the Smithsonian Institution, the British Library and the Brodleian Library at Oxford to name a few are grappling with how to handle the present forms of digital material. We have gleaned so much for example from love letters between historical figures such as Henry the VIII and Anne Boleyn and John and Abigail Adams about not only their feelings for each other but how they perceived events in their times. Mr. Garfield ponders that "The future of human communication is still a cloud of uncertainty".

To celebrate a milestone birthday in a fun and interesting way, the Flavor Of Rochester.Com Blogs, featured a woman who visited 60 wineries during a cross country trip to celebrate her 60th. She collected a bottle of wine from each winery and great memories along the way. You could take her clever idea and apply it to any passion or interest you have to come up with a meaningful way to celebrate a big birthday.  History buffs could celebrate by visiting the president's homes and presidential libraries scattered around the country. Nature lovers could have a memorable time visiting our beautiful National Parks starting from the shores of Maine to sunny California.
 I could conceive of celebrating by combining the wineries, history tours of the president's homes and libraries with stops at the National Parks along the way, for a great way to celebrate the impending 60th birthday, only a few years away.
 At any rate it's fun to think about a theme for your next "milestone birthday" and do some day dreaming about traveling and experiencing some places and things you have on your "bucket list" of things to do.