Comments on: Pick Up A Pen ~ Send Some Love

By: Greg Dornback

Greg Dornback — Sun, 09 Jan 2022 14:23:17 +0000

Lisa, I love how these thoughts come to you and you share to inspire people.
I have really great memories as a young man in the military, overseas.
Sometimes you might wait weeks at mail call, hoping that you might be one of the lucky ones to receive anything from home. The overseas envelopes had red, white and blue around the edges and it made you feel American, no matter where you were at in the world. I can remember taking a letter and walking off into the jungle or going out on the beach, to savor every word. Also, a letter could be saved and reread numerous times, including when you needed an attitude adjustment. To get the smells of home and seeing the difference in writing styles was always interesting. I don’t find myself doing this with texts on my phone much. Many times, I might take an hour and drink a beer, while I would read and imagine being with that person who sent the letter. Amazingly, in some way, a personal letter was enough of an emotional boost that any feeling of homesick or FOMO would always subside. This always seemed to soothe my heart, until the next time I was lucky enough to get my name called at mail call. In many ways the people who wrote the letters and sent packages always offered me encouraging thoughts when it seemed I needed them most. These friends and family would become my closest circle of relationships. The fact that someone would care enough to stop whatever they were doing to take time out of their day to write me a letter was a blessing every time. Thanks for the letter memories!

By: Lisa Baldwin

Lisa Baldwin — Sat, 08 Jan 2022 23:59:55 +0000

In reply to Liz. Let us know how it turns out!

By: Liz

Liz — Sat, 08 Jan 2022 22:50:32 +0000

I accept the challenge, thank you for the reminder. I’m sure my uncle would love to hear from me.

By: Lisa Baldwin

Lisa Baldwin — Sat, 08 Jan 2022 18:28:42 +0000

In reply to Janet McHenry. You have instilled this important skill and gracious attitude among your students and kids. You model and invite this type of activity, especially for your own dear mom who is now in a senior living home. Thanks for showing us the way!

By: Janet McHenry

Janet McHenry — Sat, 08 Jan 2022 18:12:47 +0000

A lovely blog, Lisa. As a former English teacher of high school juniors and seniors, I taught my students how to write a decent thank you note, and they wrote the notes of appreciation for the high school Booster Club when it got donations. I also taught them (who included my own four kids) to resist using a gifted item (even cashing a check) until they’d written the thank you note.

Covid has created a heartbreak of loneliness for senior citizens who are in senior living or nursing homes. They miss their people! Letters truly help erase some of that.