The first letter I ever remember receiving was a beautifully illustrated letter from my grandmother that combined words and homonyms that were illustrated. There was a picture of a deer and then my name which as a 9-year old I understood as Dear Weeks. There were so many other charming picture and word combinations that I remember crying when I found out someone had thrown it away. Another of my favorite letters is one I received from a friend right after the September 11th terrorist attacks in the US. In lieu of the beautiful handmade Christmas cards he usually makes, he wrote individual letters to everyone he loved telling us what they meant to him and what he had learned from each of us. I was so touched by the letter I received that I read it over and over.

This is why I was excited to learn of Felicia Sullivan’s new challenge to encourage letter writing. For me the process of writing a letter is a bigger commitment of time and energy so I think more carefully about what I’m going to say. I don’t want the letter to look sloppy so I have to slow down so my penmanship conveys the sincerity of my thoughts.

The most meaningful letters I exchange right now are with the foster family in China who took care of our adopted daughter for the first 300 days of her life. They write to us once every year or two in Chinese and we have a friend translate their letter to us and our letter back to them. Although someone else has to write the Chinese part, I save the English translation and the English version of the letter I write in a handbound book so we have a record of our correspondence. Usually we send a small photo album with pictures of our daughter and have our daughter, who is now 5 write a sentence or two and draw a picture. I cherish each of the letters we receive as well as those we send because I know their family will open our letters with as much excitement as we open theirs.

Whether or not you participate in this letter-writing challenge, I hope you will take a moment and write someone a letter this week–not just so they can receive it but also because it feels so good to send it.

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