e-mail

In that lame farm in 2003, they may not have even had the internet. Even if they had, years before there wouldn't have been any, so letters years before, would have been the way to communicate, and then maybe it became such a tradition between Aunt Sid and Ruth, they decided to keep it up for the personal qualities a hand-written letter has. It does seem like Ruth's mother was the type to not get internet though. In 2003, surprisingly many still did not, and it seems likely this farm would not have had it.