So, my nephew is sad when he doesn’t get mail, and my sister asked if I would write him a letter. I was happy to, as he’s one of my absolute favorite humans, though I was also mildly stumped. What should I write?
I decided a letter at all was more important than the perfection of its contents, and I let my editor relax a bit.
I know he just moved, from the Atlanta suburbs to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and I’m going to visit in early December, so I asked him how his new school was, and what he could see from his bedroom window. I asked him if he was an Atlanta Falcons or a Tennessee Titans fan. I told him how much I was looking forward to seeing him, and I asked if we could go on a walk together when I arrived.
It was sweet to write him and I am excited to mail my letter tomorrow. My husband will send one in maybe a week.
I was reminded of myself as a child, how I envied my parents getting their junk mail and bills. I longed to get mail as a sign that I was alive as well. And I was reminded of the letters my grandfather Heinrich wrote me. He used to write me handwritten letters that I was thrilled to receive, and I was touched by his thoughtfulness. My sister mentioned he used to give us stationery. I forgot that part, but I still have the letters he sent me. Maybe it is time to review them and learn how to write a letter to a child you love, so I can pass along that tradition to my nephew.
