I should have written this post last spring when I wrote about letters and postal systems as this topic fits in well with that. What is the best way to end a letter and/or email to someone you know and like? Back when L., K., and S. lived on Hardy St. in the Rockridge neighbourhood of Oakland, they had a postcard of Roslyn, Washington (the town where the TV show Northern Exposure (which on the show was really a town in Alaska) was filmed. During those last few months I lived in Berkeley, particularly in June, I watched a lot of episodes of that show with L. and K. It's really good and worth watching!). S. had bought the postcard when passing through Roslyn, I think on the roadtrip she and K. took in 2003 from California all the way up the west coast through Oregon, Washington, and BC to spend the summer with their uncle in Alaska, and had planned to send it to her ex-boyfriend who was living in the Bay. She never sent the postcard (I don't think the address part was even filled out other than the name) and so instead it ended up on their fridge, and ended up in my hands one day when it fell off the fridge and I read what was on the back. The postcard was pretty short, and suggested that S. and this ex-boyfriend go for a beer sometime once S. got back to the Bay. The ending though, was very memorable and has stuck with me, and inspired me, all this time. It said: "Hoping happiness is yours, S. (except instead of just her initial she signed her whole name.) I thought, and still do think, that is the coolest ending to a postcard ever! It's sweet, sincere, simple - perfect. (And I really hope she used it again on a postcard she actually sent to someone because it is too good to be wasted on the back of a postcard stuck to a fridge... All those girls moved out of that house a long time ago, which makes me wonder if that postcard even still exists or somehow (either purposely or not) got thrown out in a move. I hope that's not the case, but even if it is, that postcard is definitely still living on in my consciousness.)
How to end both letters and emails is a subject I've thought about a lot. I have definitely tried in the past (and sometimes still do try in the present) to be creative with my endings (a notable example is a postcard I mailed to someone from Tucson, AZ which S. and I visited on our roadtrip to LA from Austin. It said: "a cactus and a kiss" and then my name. I like that one.) but I usually stick with the tried and true "love". I guess it is overused to a certain extent, but I only use it if I actually like and care about the person. Recently (or maybe not so recently? maybe the last 6 months - to a year or so?) I've started using "lots of love" sometimes; because really sometimes love on its own isn't enough. I also like "love always" and occasionally (more like infrequently) use it, but I must prefer the other two since I end letters/emails with them much more often.
My preferred way of ending emails (and I sometimes put them into texts too) is "xx" a habit I picked up from my British friends C. and S. in Paris. The first few times either of them sent me texts I was confused because there was always a "x" or "xx" at the end; I finally got that they were supposed to be kisses and I decided I really liked that. Prior to living in Paris I'd often used "xo" (which I still like); however, I prefer "xx" as it makes me think of the French bise (the kiss on each cheek). I love how in Paris (and I imagine all of France) when people, like my lovely French friend C., are about to end a phone call with someone they say "bisous" and then hang up. And actually, now that I think of it, they did this in Santiago too, ending phone calls by saying "un beso" and often ending texts by actually writing "un beso" (instead of the single "x" that C. and S. used). N. sometimes ends her emails with "kisses" or "many kisses" which I really like. I also like (and like using it when writing emails to my friends in Paris) the French equivalent which is "Je t'embrasse" (I kiss you) or "mille bisous" (a thousand kisses).
Maybe about a year ago, I read a post on Jezebel in which the blogger Sadie talked about how she likes ending her correspondence with "as ever, Sadie." I like that ending somewhat, but I don't think I'd ever use it. One of the commentators left a huge list of endings to correspondence in the comments and I was so intrigued that I had to copy/paste the list and save it in my gmail drafts. Some of them (actually almost all) are pretty cheesy but some are pretty sweet. I don't think I've ever used any of them, but maybe I should start. Here's the list, I put the ones that I would never use first: ''With undying fondness''; ''the utmost regards''; ''I hope to receive the pleasure of your attentions soon''; ''cordially''; ''a most zealous hug''. Here are the ones I wouldn't use but think are okay/fine: ''Hope to be delighted by your company soon''; ''I anxiously await our reunion''; ''The kindest thoughts''; ''I desperately await your correspondence''; ''yours etc.''; ''devoted''; ''With much sincere sweetness''; ''My most sincere warm wishes''. And here is the only one from the whole list I would actually use: ''May all your days be sweet''.
This last one I found on a different website. I think I used it an email to A. once. It's pretty cheesy, but very sweet: "May you continue to bloom where you're planted." And I do sincerely hope that for all of you!
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