Writing a handwritten letter or note every day for the past five months has been so much fun. Today I thought I would share a blog post I found from Traci Bild that talks about why you too should be writing letters and more importantly, why you should write them now instead of later. She’s got six reasons – all good ones.
Who will you write to this week?
Posted in Sunday Letters, Sunday Notes
Tagged handwriting, handwritten letters, keeping in touch, letters, snail mail, Traci Bild, Year of Letters
“I want to be remembered as a kid who went down fighting, and didn’t really lose” – Zach Sobiech photo: lunaguitars.com
Sometimes the timing of events gives you pause and makes you wonder if it is just coincidental or if there is some other reason behind their occurrence. Today’s letter talks to that very phenomenon.
Zach Sobiech was 14 when he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a bone cancer which mostly strikes children. Zach underwent almost a dozen surgeries and some 20 rounds of chemotherapy, but sadly died less than a month after his 18th birthday in 2013.
He started writing music after his diagnosis. His song Clouds is beautiful and I hope that you will listen to it while you read this letter to his parents. Click here to listen one of my favorite versions of the song that features Zach singing the song with a host of celebrities. It’s really cool, but get the box of tissues.
Dear Laura and Rob,
Yesterday I found myself watching a video online and realized that the music sounded familiar – it was Zach’s Clouds.
I remember hearing about Zach and his story around the time of his death in May of 2013. Listening to Clouds yesterday I decided to Google Zach and was surprised when I saw that it was his birthday and that he would have turned 20.
Sobiech family, photo: people.com
Something told me that it wasn’t a coincidence that I heard the song, looked him up, discovered it was his birthday – so I decided to write you a letter. I am very sorry for your loss. Zach seemed like a wonderful person.
I imagine that May might be a difficult time for your family. Please know that he and his music live on forever in the hearts and minds of the millions of people he touched.
Warmest regards,
Reed Sandridge
I fell down, down, down
Into this dark and lonely hole
There was no one there to care about me anymore
And I needed a way to climb and grab a hold of the edge
You were sitting there holding a rope
And we’ll go up, up, up
But I’ll fly a little higher
Go up in the clouds because the view’s a little nicer
Up here my dear
It won’t be long now, it won’t be long now
When we get back on land
Well I’ll never get my chance
Be ready to live and it’ll be ripped right out of my hands
And maybe someday we’ll take a little ride
Go up, up, up and everything will be just fine
We’ll go up, up, up
But I’ll fly a little higher
Go up in the clouds because the view’s a little nicer
Up here my dear
It won’t be long now, it won’t be long now
If only I had a little bit more time
If only I had a little bit more time with you
We could go up, up, up
And take that little ride
We’ll sit there holding hands
And everything would be just right
And maybe someday I’ll see you again
We’ll float up in the clouds and we’ll never see the end
We’ll go up, up, up
But I’ll fly a little higher
Go up in the clouds because the view’s a little nicer
Up here my dear
It won’t be long now, it won’t be long now
Posted in Condolences, Just because, Uncategorized
Tagged cancer, embossing, handwritten, hope, inspiring stories, letters, music, osteosarcoma, Paper Source, Year of Letters, Zach Sobiech
I’ve become a huge fan of Paper Source – especially my local store here in Georgetown. It’s been a lifesaver for the Year of Letters. I don’t know of any other paper retailer with the level of quality and variety as Paper Source that beats their reasonable price point. And the staff is extremely helpful.
I’ve become a pretty regular face in the store since starting my letter-writing project – enough so I guess that they kindly invited me to a workshop that they had recently to teach cardmaking and giftmaking techniques. It was great – and they even had some snacks and wine for everyone.
I probably should have incorporated some of the new techniques I learned into this letter to them, but stay tuned, you’ll see some new things in my cards in the coming days and weeks.
I used one of Paper Source’s bags to make a liner for the envelope.
Ed, Brian, Jena, Aprill, Sam, Tyler and others,
Thank you very much for your kind invitation to attend Crafter’s Night Out last evening led by Aprill and Sam. I learned several new techniques – like how to apply gilded edges, use washi tape and even make my own gift bags. Your entire team is exceptional and it is always a pleasure to be in your store.
Thanks again,
Reed Sandridge
P.S. I also bought the marbling set…keep a look out on YearOfLetters.com for some marbling!
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged crafting, customer service, DC, Georgetown, handwritten letters, letters, paper, Paper Source, retail, Washington, workshops, writing
Spring semester of my junior year in college I studied abroad in Valladolid, Spain. A mostly industrial town in the northwest of Spain, Valladolid is quintessential Castilla y Leon. The Spanish spoken here does fair justice to its heritage and arguably is the heart of this beautiful country.
I lived with a nice family who regularly took in exchange students. Their 6th floor apartment was just across the Pisuerga River from the downtown. It sounds far, but I walked to the city center every day to go to class.
I lost touch with the family but this spring marks 20 years since my stay there and I figured it was about time to find them. I knew I had kept a letter from their oldest son, Pako (yes, spellcheck, he spelled it with a “k”), which I had received about a year after returning to the U.S. I found it this morning and decided to drop them a letter. Hopefully they still live in the same place.
I’ve translated the letter below.
I included a recent photo of me with my Dad.
Dear Domi,
I hope that this letter finds you well. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in touch – I’m lazy to write and even more so in Spanish.
When I finished my University studies I moved to Washington, DC. There is more opportunity to find work here and it’s also very close to my brother (and his wife and two daughters). My father still lives in Pennsylvania – in the same house where I lived as a child. My mother died in 2006 – she had heart trouble for many years – even before I stayed with you.
Pako’s letter from 2006
I haven’t gotten married and don’t have any kids that I am aware of 🙂 I have a consulting company that helps people and companies improve their strategic communication. I used to travel a lot, especially to Latin America – I lived in Brazil for three yeas from 2003-2005. I’ve been back to Spain – but just to Madrid and Barcelona for work.
How are you all doing? Mr. Manuel, Pako, Manolo? I’ve tried from time to time to find you all on the internet but failed. This morning I found a letter that Pako wrote to me in 1996 and it had your address – I had forgotten it.
Well, I hope that you are all well. It would be a great to hear back from you.
A big hug,
Jason Reed Sandridge
P.S. Sorry for my Spanish – I don’t get to practice it much anymore and I’m forgetting it.
Posted in Reconnecting
Tagged exchange student, family, host family, letter-writing, letters, living abroad, losing touch, Spain, staying in touch, study abroad, travel, Valladolid, Year of Letters
Yesterday I celebrated my 100th handwritten letter of the year. I use the term “celebrated” loosely – I had a small pour of bourbon and reflected on the past 100 days. Realizing that it had been almost two months since I updated the statistics page, I sat down and tallied the numbers on my letter-writing journey so far.
This is a very nice bourbon that my boss gave to me.
I’m averaging about one handwritten response for every ten letters I send out. While that sounds low, it’s a vast improvement over the numbers I reported earlier this year. One out of three letters I am sending out is acknowledged in some way – either by email, Facebook, a phone call or tweet. Friends and family make up about 34% of the recipients while celebrities and known individuals account for 20%.
I’ve been surprised about some of the people I have not heard back from. Usually when you write to someone holding a public office, you get a response. I didn’t receive even a standard form letter back from Muriel Bowser, our city’s new mayor. Equally silent were the CEO of Trader Joe’s, the folks at FitBit, the U.S. Postmaster General, Lazlo Toth and Teddy. That’s ok – I’ve received some very nice responses and even a handful of letters from people I’ve never met but who found inspiration in the blog to start writing more.
Speaking of inspiration – this beautiful weather is inspiring me to get outside. Enjoy your Sunday.