National Letter Writing Week

National Letter Writing Week is always the second week in January. In honor  of this special event, I am taking the opportunity to encourage you to grab your pen, a note card or sheet of paper, and put your thoughts to paper.

If you follow my blog, at all, you know it was created to honor my mother, Mickey, and her lifelong commitment to staying in touch with friends and family by writing a letter a day...365 days a year, for her entire adult life.

Beginning in my childhood and continuing throughout my adult life, people told me what a difference my mother's hand written letters had made in their lives. Her lovingly composed thoughts had cheered them through sad times, encouraged them through sickness, and even enhanced their joyous occasions.

         Mickey began her correspondence to stay in touch with  home-town girlfriends...
(Mickey on the left)

then  added the new friends she met throughout her life - including friends she made while my dad was in the Air Force.
(Mickey and Stan in the middle)

After losing my mother in 2006, I longed for a way to honor her dedication to friendships. It took me five years to bring "mickeysjoy" to life. The next five years found me knee deep in colored card stock, glue, and dozens of how-to articles on running a web-site and writing a blog. I spent a great deal of time just fumbling around but I also met many wonderful people, shared my mother's story numerous times, and learned some valuable things about myself.

So, here I am, ten years later...a little older, a lot wiser, and more determined than ever to share my mom's story in the hopes that it motivates others to try letter writing for the first time or perhaps pick up that pen and paper  on a more frequent basis. It might be considered an outdated request, in this day of the speedy e-mail or the even speedier text but there is so much substance to the handwritten letter and it's practically guaranteed to make someone's day. It just might make your day, as well.

Not all of us can do great things. 

But we can do small things with great love.

-Mother Teresa