{"id":2511,"date":"2018-09-02T08:00:19","date_gmt":"2018-09-02T06:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/justmeneesha.com\/?p=2511"},"modified":"2021-07-06T10:59:55","modified_gmt":"2021-07-06T08:59:55","slug":"sunday-read-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/justmeneesha.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/02\/sunday-read-museum\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunday read: Meet Me at the Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunday read: Meet Me at the Museum<\/h1>\n

I had two penpals when I was younger. Penpals? That\u2019s a word I had to explain to my own Generation Z children, who only understand the world of emails and instant messaging. Every month I would receive a handwritten letter from Sylvia in Oldenburg, Germany, and Christopher in Paris, France. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"JustMeneesha,

Love stories happen every day.<\/p><\/div>\n

The letters would arrive about two weeks after they were posted and I would respond immediately and it would take two weeks before they received my letters. A month – that\u2019s how long it took to send and receive news between two people in different countries.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, of course, I am able to chat with cousins in Canada, colleagues and students in France, and friends in Australia\u00a0\u2013 all in a matter of seconds. Technology has changed our lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

Correspondence<\/h3>\n

Meet Me at the Museum<\/em> is a fascinating take on correspondence between two strangers in different countries. Their exchanges happen via long-form email and they do remind me of the letters my friends and I exchanged all those years ago.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tina Hopgood writes a letter to a man who dedicated a book to her over 50 years ago. She\u2019s not expecting a response, but she writes anyway. What ensues is an ongoing exchange between her and Anders Larsen, the son of the man she was writing to.<\/span><\/p>\n

Living in different countries, Tina and Anders identify with each other in some way. And so they continue writing to each other, gradually baring more and more of their souls to each other. Until suddenly, Tina stops writing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meet Me at the Museum<\/em> is a story of two people finding each other by chance and communicating in ways they could not have imagined. The anonymity of a letter offers a safety net of sorts to share on a level they may not be comfortable doing otherwise.<\/span><\/p>\n