Since it is clearly not 1 January, I have some catching up to do. Tonight I only had time to write one letter, but should be able to double up the next few days in order to get caught up. The first letter I chose to write to kick off my journey was to a dear friend named Betty. Betty has been in my life since I was about 5 years old. She is a member of my church and often would watch over my brother and I, or cat sit for us when our family was out of town for a few days.
I used to write to Betty at least once a year... she could at the very least always count on a Christmas card from me. Then life happened. My Christmas list grew larger, more overwhelming, my life became more cluttered, less focused on my address book... there's no real reason why Betty slowly dropped off my list of people I keep in touch with. She still calls my family on occasion to check in and see how life is treating us all, but she isn't much of a writer due to a sever arm issue she's had as long as I've known her. In fact, I'll be very surprised if I get a response from her, but I know she'll be glad to receive the letter! I included a few photos for her as well - a wedding photo, our family Christmas photo, and of course a photo of our cats (since she used to take care of the cats we had when we knew her, I figured she'd like to see the newbies!)
As I wrote my letter to Betty (it wasn't overly long, just the inside of a 3x5 notecard) I realised how much of my life she had missed out on because I stopped sending her news... and how much of her life I've missed because I stopped asking. I hope the letter finds her well, and I look forward to sending more letters this weekend.
I should probably clarify something... (in case I have friends and family reading this blog!) there isn't much rhyme or reason to who I choose to write for this project. Betty was one of the first names in my address book that I stopped at and thought "my gosh, I haven't heard from her in ages!" some of the others on my list for this weekend (yes, I made a list...) are friends who I send notes to more regularly and was just thinking of them, others are people who may receive my letter and think "Rachel who?"... as this project progresses I'm sure many of the people in my life will receive something or other. I will not duplicate contacts for this project either (unless it turns out I know fewer people than I think I do!) In short, if you know me, and you know about this project, and you do NOT receive anything from me this year... please, use it as an opportunity to send ME something! I am not trying to reject you, or make you feel bad.
Wishing you all much Happiness & Harmony... I'm off to bed!
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