When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone?  You know, a handwritten note on stationary - not one that involves putting stationary into a printer and punching the keyboard as I’m doing right now?

They have become so rare that I treasure them when readers write, slipping both compliments and angry rants onto the same shelf of my work locker.

This week I received one that I thought I should share, but first some background…

As journalists we report news and tell stories, often ones of hardship.  Calandra Mitchells’ is such a story.  Mrs. Mitchell separated from her husband last November, and after living with relatives for a time found herself and her five children in the Salvation Army Family Haven shelter.   She attended job training classes as her children went to school, and was having a hard time finding a job in this economy.

I photographed her family one rainy evening last month at the shelter.  Days later and before the story was in the newspaper, she called me.  She was so excited, landing a job with the U.S. Census Bureau.  The following Sunday the story was published.

Two Mondays later this note arrived in my mailbox:

This is a tough time for journalism.  Fewer people venture from their doorways, bending at the waist to pickup their morning newspaper.  But on this Sunday morning some readers did more than turn the pages or click the mouse.  They responded.  And that’s good for journalism.