Friendly letters, written in longhand or sometimes typed, were once a
common part of life. These days, with e-mail, texting, Skype, and the like,
the traditional friendly letter has become almost outmoded. Nevertheless,
one could still use the sample letter below as a guide to communicating
with friends, in general. The one below, for example, could easily be the
text of a long e-mail to a former colleague.