The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has been keeping a lot of people at home, and with Governor McMaster’s recent Home or Work Order, even more are being asked to stay in place. So, a few weeks back I was bored and of course not able to go anywhere. So I put something on Facebook saying I was thinking about writing random letters to people.
Well, little did I know that single Facebook post would take off — all of a sudden I was getting comments from people saying they wanted a letter, and what a great idea. So, a single thought posted to Facebook actually turned into a project! To date, I’ve written 60 letters — I have only promoted sending the letters on my social media accounts. All the letters I’ve sent out were done so via request, or a reply to a letter I received (three people surprised me and sent me letters first).
The majority of the letters were mailed to an address within Newberry County, and of that number most went to City of Newberry addresses. Outside of South Carolina, six other states were sent letters — the furthest went to Chicago, followed a few hundred miles by Pittsburgh.
Out of the letters I’ve sent, I’ve received 19 responses — as of April 8.
Of the letters I’ve received responses to thus far, one of them was something called a Puzzletter (I love puzzles), one was a pop up letter, one included a homemade face mask, one included a cute drawing from my friend’s son. It is also fun to look at what people are sending their letters on, some have fun stationary, cards, computer paper, etc.
At one point, my cousin asked me to teach her son how to write a letter — which we did via Facebook video chat.
So, why exactly letters — you may be asking yourself — why not deep cleaning my house, why not send out text messages or emails (which would be a lot faster). Well, first and foremost, those who know me know I love the mail. Seriously, I’m obsessed with it, I enjoy getting informed delivery that tells me what mail I’m getting that day. I also like when I get surprises, don’t get me wrong, the majority of my mail includes bills, coupons, junk and stuff like that.
However, when I get my mail, or my informed delivery email, and I see something that is handwritten and unknown, it makes me happy. I then get to check my mailbox and find something I never expected, typically it will be a card from my mom, or if it is the holidays, a Christmas card (which I still have on my fridge).
So, why don’t we circle back to the question of why, my hope is sending a letter would bring that joy I get. During this time a lot of people are staying home, and haven’t left their house in weeks. Others are just going home and to work — that’s it. So, my hope is a letter brings a little bit of light in their days, something they normally would not have received.
In doing this, I stocked up on cards, I first picked out a bunch of unique blank cards, then bought a couple of packs of more blank cards and currently I’m at the end of a 50 pack of colorful cards. I was even sent a link to a Hallmark program, they were giving out two million cards (three per person). That gave me an additional three cards to mail out, I even sent the link to some other folks to do the same — just goes to show that millions of people are mailing letters!
Now, let’s talk about stamps, I love a good stamp — a gene I’m convinced I inherited from my father. I originally started out with cactus flower stamps, then moved on to post office murals, landscapes, frogs, American flags and now I’m on flowers. I even utilized Wonder Woman stamps I was saving — so if you are reading this, and are one of the four that got that stamp, it’s an honor. Also, quick shout-out to my mom who sent me stamps — twice!
Even though many may think that sending a letter is a dying art, I’d say that it has brought me much joy the past couple of weeks and I hope that those I’ve sent letters to feel the same way.
So, if you are reading this column, no matter where you are, if you are self-quarantining at home or only going to work and home, maybe send a letter to someone you care about. You may just make their day.