More Love Letters: 12 Days of Letter Writing

The holiday season holds a lot of traditions for me, some of which I will be sharing next week, and one of those traditions in my participation in the More Love Letters 12 Days of Love Letters. I was introduced to this organization by my good friend Becky and this is my 4th year of participating in their holiday letter writing campaign. 

So what is this letter writing campaign all about?  More Love Letters is a global organization using the power behind social media to write and mail love letters to strangers in need all over the world. The mission is simple: Love big. Love fast. Love hard. Get involved today. 

The 12 Days of Love Letter Writing is MLL's biggest + brightest campaign. In a nutshell: 12 days of letter requests. Lots of hot cocoa. A lot of good done. And bundles of hundreds of love letters dropped at strangers' doorstep. 

Nothing brightens my day like receiving a hand written note in the mail, so would you join me in writing a note for Shan?  Read her story below and you'll see that she could most definitely use some support and encouragement.

Shan's Letter Request:

Shan is a super mom of four, and a second mom to her daughter’s best friend! She greets everyone with a warm smile and a hug, and she bursts with a positive energy that most people can only strive for. This year, Shan was diagnosed with colon cancer, and subsequently underwent chemotherapy - which is a tiring, painful, and defeating process that most of us will never know what it means to endure. Despite this unimaginable challenge, Shan remained in high spirits for herself and her family. Unfortunately, when Shan’s chemo was done, the doctors found another growth in her neck. She is now set to undergo more chemotherapy in hopes to beat this cancer that was immune to her earlier treatment. 

Let us send Shan a world of support that she so deserves, and remind her that she will never be alone in her battle! 

Shan’s Bundle

% Olivia L. 

17 Ballwood Road

Old Greenwich, CT 06870

 

Time is running out as letters must be mailed by tomorrow, December 19th!  

More Love Letters: 12 Days of Love Letter Writing

For the 3rd year in a row, I am participating in the More Love Letters 12 Days of Love Letter Writing campaign.  In case you aren't familiar with this organization, it receives letters requests from people from all walks of life who are struggling a bit and could use a little extra love in the form of a letter.  Then volunteers, such as myself, craft a letter to provide support, encouragement, and a tangible sign that there are people out there - even complete strangers - who care. 

This year, I wrote a letter to Lois.  Here is the love letter request from Lois' daughter:

This request comes to us from Lois’ loving daughter. She writes: “My mom, age 88, and dad, 92, have been married for over 67 years. Mom has been the sole caregiver for my dad since he suffered a debilitating stroke 14 years ago. She has been totally devoted to caring for him. Three weeks ago she had to have knee replacement surgery and for the first time in 67 years they are separated until she recovers. They are both having such a hard time being apart. She is in a rehabilitation center and working so hard at her physical therapy so that she'll be able to come home and care for him once again. Unfortunately, due to her age her recovery is not going as well as she'd hoped. She could really use some love letters and encouragement.” Let’s put pen to paper and lift Lois’ spirits today!

I wrote my letter near the glow of one of my favorite candles.

 If you are interested in participating, you can send your letter here.  The deadline is tomorrow!

Lois' Bundle

c/o Darla A.

2445 Kips Korner Rd.
Norco, Ca. 92860

Have you participated in a love letter campaign before?  Have you ever been on the receiving end of an unexpected letter that provided encouragement and support?  I certainly have in the last year and those letters and notes really brightened my day.

12 Days of Love Letter Writing

Happy Tuesday!  It's hard to believe that 1/3 of the month of December has already passed.  Luckily it's been a wonderful month for me so far, and I have lots of exciting things to look forward to, such as my annual gingerbread house decorating party (which is tomorrow), celebrating my first Christmas with my boyfriend, seeing my family on Christmas, and bringing in the New Year with someone special by my side.

The month of December is going to be a good one for me, and I will definitely focus on showing those in my life how much I love and appreciate them throughs acts both big and small.  And similar to last year, I will also be spreading some love to a stranger by partcipating in The 12 Days of Love Letter Writing!  It is an unconventional way to spread love, but I know I have been touched by the kindness of others so hopefully this small act on my part helps brighten someone's days.

Today I am writing a letter to Winnie.  Here is Winnie's story:

Winnie is a first year graduate student who is living on the East Coast for the first time. She is originally from the west coast where her whole family is. In addition to being an awesome person who juggles schoolwork, social life and classes, she is also battling a chronic autoimmune disease. Her letter requester writers,"She balances all these things with strength, optimism and grace. She puts on a brave face for those around her who don't even know she is sick but I know there are times she worries and gets scared about her health limiting her in what she can do. Any words to encourage or advise her in keeping her head up high or that there is a light at the end of the tunnel even when it's hard to see or believe, would be very much appreciated." We need your cursive to help Winnie see how much the world values her strength and loves her without question.

 

Will you join me in this love letter writing movement?  If so, you can write a letter to Winnie by next Tuesday, December 18th.  The letter can be sent to:

 

Winnie's Bundle

P.O. Box 2061

North Haven, CT 06473

 

 

Have you been on the receiving end of an act of kindness from a stranger?  One act of kindness that stands out in my mind is the time when I returned to my car at the end of a work day and found that someone had cleared all the many inches of snow that had fallen over the course of the day.  

More Love Letters

Happy Wednesday, everyone.  Remember on Monday when I said I would be participating in a project that tied in with this week's Advent theme?  Well, here is that project.

My friend Becky has been part of a project called "More Love Letters" for months now.  She has shared her experience both on her blog as well as the More Love Letters blog.  The project has gained momentum as the months have passed - so much so that the "write a letter to your latte maker" project was featured on Oprah's Blog!

All along I was so proud of what Becky, Hannah (the creator and founder of the project), and the other letter writers have done.  But truth be told, I was a bit reticent to participate in the project.  I actually haven't ever really wrote a love letter to someone I know, so how could I write one to a stranger? (post edit: actually, this is not technically true as I have sent many thinking of you cards and such to friends and family! I never thought of them as love letters, but that is really what they were.)

Then Becky told me about their 12 Days of Love Letter Writing project and I knew it was a good time for me to get involved.  I signed up to participate and received my letter request in late November.  It read as follows:

Elizabeth is in her early 20’s and got married a couple years back. Without warning, her husband recently decided to leave her.

Her close friend wrote, “Elizabeth was strong for a long while but has been shutting out all those who have been supporting her, loving her and trying to point her in the direction of God. Elizabeth is a highly creative individual who is multi-faceted and full of potential. She has been through the ringer and is resisting her true life callings.”

This love letter bundle will be a bit different. Instead of a giant bundle of love letters, Elizabeth’s friend plans to leave a love letter for her each day. She wants to leave them on her car, at work, send them to her house etc. “My prayer is that this bundle will change her life and bring healing from this situation.”

Over the last 1.5 weeks since I received the letter request, I have thought about what I could say to comfort this person that I have never met.  I was a little nervous at first, but then I thought about moments when the kindness of a stranger has brightened my day, and it didn't seem like such a daunting task anymore.

The first sentence was the hardest one to write.  But then the words flowed after that.  While I have not experienced the difficulties of a divorce, I have gone through difficult things in life and I reflected on the words from others that got me through.

Now here is your chance to get involved.  I encourage you and invite you to join me in writing a love letter to Elizabeth.  It can be a couple of sentences.  It can be paragraph upon paragraph.  Each love letter is as unique as its writer. 

If you want to participate, please send your letter to this following address within the next week:

More Love Letters

P.O. Box 2061

North Haven, CT  06473

It is my hope that through the love letters that Elizabeth receives, she will find some peace, comfort, and love during this holiday season.