It's easy to send a text or email to stay connected to people. That's why investing a little more effort in sending a postcard or letter has so much more impact.
I was visiting one of my besties last weekend, one of the few people I know who still sends hand-written letters and cards. I used to be one of them, and I allowed as to how I missed the practice. I'm a longtime Postcards to Voters participant, which is a terrific voting advocacy effort, and last year started doing Letters Against Isolation, a meaningful way to reduce the loneliness and disconnect that can come with aging. Both of these initiatives are easy and fun, and I encourage you to join us!
Tell them how you feel
But these activities don't involve my friends and chosen fam. So I want to start writing short notes to my beloveds when something big or small makes me think of them or to share some aspect of them that I appreciate. Just last week, I cried when I opened a card from a young writer friend who had graduated from college. It has two simple sentences of gratitude and actual photos of her in full regalia! It meant so much. I'm going to write notes so the folks in my circle can feel that sweet rush, too.
Contribute to their legacy
And since I've been working at Bluestem Conservation Cemetery, I've realized how what our friends have written to and about us becomes part of our legacy. Many times, I've heard a mourner say some version of, "I found a letter to [the deceased] from a friend that really sums them up..." Maybe one of my friends will hold onto something I wrote them for someone to find later — and perhaps it will help them understand the recipient better.
Get started
Just like you don't need a long message to send, you don't need fancy stationery, either. I'm lucky to have friends and fam who create beautiful cards (see below), but I also grab paper goods at local thrift shops and yard/estate sales. (I'm finally about to the end of the stash of my father-in-law's stash of 300+ picture postcards that I saved after he died 2006!) Or I scrawl something on a sticky note.
It's the act of writing and sending that matters. Get writing!
Beautiful cards illustrated by (l-r) Preston Montague, Juanita Wrenn and Clay Carmichael