Letters in a Time of Tragedy

In 2001, my husband and I had recently moved back to Ontario from British Columbia. We were renting a basement apartment in the country near the city of Ottawa while we decided where we wanted to buy our first home and settle down.

On the morning of September 11th 2001, he went to work as usual and I watched a bit of the news while eating my breakfast before going to work in my studio which was essentially the second bedroom of the apartment. I left the television on although muted it. I recall going into the livingroom and kitchen periodically and noticing the television but didn't give it much thought. I assumed it was a movie or something that was playing. It didn't register that it was live news. The phone rang around 9am and my sister asked me if I had the television on. She was home and not working as her second child was due within a month or so. We both watched in horror, moments later, as the second plane flew into the second WTC tower. Soon, my husband, who worked at a news station, called me to say he wasn't sure when he would get home. At that point, no one was sure what was happening. Would other major cities be targeted? At the time, my husband worked in the capital city of Canada. 9/11 is one of those events that each one of us remembers exactly what we were doing and where we were on that morning.

A part of my journey to NYC was to visit Ground Zero. After going into the American Express building and standing in front of a glass wall which overlooks the former WTC tower site, my dad and I ditched the tour and made our way across to St. Paul's Chapel. This small chapel built in 1766 stands in the middle of giant skyscrapers in downtown New York City. The chapel's backyard, which is also a small cemetary, backs onto Church Street. Across Church Street is Ground Zero. When the various explosions occurred and eventually when the towers came down on 9/11, the windows of the surrounding buildings, within a mile and a half radius, shattered. The windows of this church remained intact and the church was spared from destruction. It is believed that the ancient windows contain so much lead in the original glass that they withstood the powerful fall of the WTC towers.



Ground Zero where building has begun again. In the upper left corner you can see a clump of trees and the
steeple of St. Paul's Chapel emerging from the trees.




Ground Zero and St. Paul's Chapel in the background.

 Immediately following the attacks until May 2002, St. Paul's Chapel was home to an extraordinary round-the-clock volunteer relief ministry for recovery workers at Ground Zero. Approximately 14, 000 volunteers offered their assistance to those who were involved in the recovery effort. There were meals, cots, prayer services, counsel and even professionals like Registered Massage Therapists, Chiropractors and Podiatrists volunteered their time and skill to look after all of the needs of the recovery crews. It was a place of refuge.....a sacred space where hundreds of recovery workers could rest, obtain medical attention and support.

When you arrive at St. Paul's Chapel, you can follow a display that is on the front steps that briefly describes the volunteer ministry and the events of 9/11 from the time the first tower was hit until the relief ministry drew to a close in May 2002. The exhibit is called Unwavering Spirit: Hope and Healing at Ground Zero. The majority of the exhibit is displayed inside the Chapel. Most of the pews have been removed to make space for the mementos and the exhibit. A dusty fire fighter's uniform and boots are casually draped over George Washington's pew. Each day at 12:30 pm there is a Prayers for Peace service in the centre of the chapel. Holy Eucharist is offered every Sunday at 8am and 10am.

What struck me was the incredible amount of hand written cards and letters which were sent in the days, weeks and months following the 9/11 attacks. Each letter and card is there displayed......hundreds of them. I was not allowed to take photographs within the chapel but took the following photo from the display outside the chapel.

It was very moving and very emotional to stand where such tragedy took place on September 11th 2001.
The following poem was written by J. Chester Johnson and I want to share it here with you:

St. Paul's Chapel

It stood. Not a window broken. Not a stone dislodged.

It stood when nothing else did.

It stood when terrorists brought September down.

It stood among myths. It stood among ruins.

To stand was its purpose, long lines prove that.

It stands, and around it now, a shrine of letters, poems, acrostics, litter of the heart.

It is the standing people want:

To grieve, serve and tend

celebrate the lasting stone of St. Paul's Chapel.

And deep into its thick breath, the largest banner

fittingly from Oklahoma climbs heavenward

with hands as stars, and stripes, hands as a flag;

and a rescuer reaches for a stuffed toy

to collect a touch;

and George Washington's pew doesn't go unused.

Charity fills a hole or two.

It stood in place of other sorts.

It stood when nothing else could.

The great had fallen, as the brute hardware came down.

It stood.

~ J. Chester Johnson

That afternoon, dad and I walked to Central Park and visited Strawberry Fields. I pulled the following excerpt from the Central Park website:

"Located near Central Park West between 71st and 74th Streets, Strawberry Fields is a 2.5 acre area of Central Park that pays tribute to the late Beatle, John Lennon, singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist. John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono lived in the Dakota Apartments adjacently located to this area of the park. It was here, walking into his home, on December 8, 1980, that John Lennon was murdered and shot dead. To commemorate his life, talents and memory, on March 26, 1981, City Council Member Henry J. Stern designated this area, the couple's favorite in Central Park, as Strawberry Fields. Named after the title of the Beatles' song "Strawberry Fields Forever," the teardrop shaped region was re-landscaped by the Central Park Conservancy with the help of landscape architect Bruce Kelley and a generous $1 million donation from Yoko Ono.

The iconic black and white Imagine mosaic, designed by a team of artists from the Italian city of Naples, lies in the center of Strawberry Fields. Named after another famous song by John Lennon, "Imagine" evokes a vision and hope for a world without strife, war and conflict."

"Imagine there's no countries


It isn't hard to do


Nothing to kill or die for


And no religion too


Imagine all the people


Living life in peace..."

~ John Lennon



Field Trip #1: Ottawa Mail Processing Plant

Let me just say that I was under the impression that once you drop the letter into the mailbox, it passes through several hands before arriving at its destination. I imagined my letter arriving at a Post Office in Ottawa, for example, and getting dumped into a large bin with all of the other letters getting mailed that day in this area. People would stand around hand sorting the letters and eventually the letter would get into smaller and smaller bins until it was brought to the post office where it would either be put into a post office box or would be hand delivered by a mail carrier. Yes, I know, very naive.

Canvas mail bags.....some dated as far back as 1921!

So, when I was offered the opportunity to participate in a guided tour of the Ottawa Mail Processing Plant (OMPP) on September 17th, I signed up.  The OMPP opened in October, 1970 and is the first mechanized plant of its kind in Canada. It is one of 21 similar facilities in the country and  is operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with the exception of Saturday night and holidays. It employs 900 people!

In front of the Ottawa Mail Processing Plant (OMPP)

 Canada Post has strict guidelines when it comes to allowing non-Canada Post employees into this facility. It was by chance that I mentioned TLWR in a prenatal class. It turned out that one of the dads-to-be worked for a company that is partially owned by Canada Post. He thought that Canada Post should know about TLWR blog and he made arrangements for me to tour the plant. Since my mom was with me that day, they graciously allowed her to join the tour. We were met by Mr. Dean Ryan and proceeded to strap on steel-toed shoe covers and enter the ground floor of the OMPP. The ground floor is used for sortation for Priority Courier, Xpresspost and parcels. The main floor has 35 loading bays, Fleet offices, Receipt Verification Unit and a Retail Postal Outlet. During the day, the floor is relatively quiet but at night, it is buzzing with activity....letters galore and parcels being sorted and ready for delivery by morning.

Early morning on the main floor. Any minute the trucks will back up to the
 loading bays and start loading these parcels to take to their destinations

Bins and bins of parcels as far as the eye can see!

The parcels below this sign are coming to our neck of the woods!

I was actuallly quite overwhelmed by the size of this one floor. It was the size of a football field and there were two more floors to be visited. Basically, the letters leave this floor and go to the third floor of the facility which is the letter sorting floor.  The OMPP processes approximately two million pieces of mail every day for Ottawa, Eastern Ontario (up to and including Kingston, Cornwall and Hawkesbury) and the Outaouais; an area of approximately 50,000 sq. km. Amazing!!

So, it turns out that I was way off with my vision of people standing around bins hand sorting the letters. Here is a list of some of the machines you might see while visiting the OMPP:

The EFM (Edger, Facer Machine) was designed by Canada Post’s Engineers. It places S/L envelopes on their edge, then “faces them up” by using cameras to determine the orientation of the letter. The EFM processes 18,000 pieces/hour.

The Multi Line Optical Character Reader (MLOCR) sorts S/L lettermail by taking a digital image of the letter. The OCR software is capable of reading and interpreting several lines of an address and processes 28,000 pieces/hour.

The Video Encoding System (VES) transmits images of letters, which cannot be deciphered by the MLOCR to remote keying stations, where clerks key-in the postal code. - 2,000 pieces/hour.

The Bar Code Sorter (BCS) is used to sort mail to a letter carrier walk or town/village. It sorts the mail by reading the barcode on the front of the envelope that was printed by the MLOCR. - 30,000 pieces/hour.

The Alcatel Flat Sorting Machine (AFSM) sorts oversize letters mechanically. It determines the postal code and prints a barcode on the front of the letter then sorts it directly into containers - 15,000 pieces/hour.

The Cubiscan measures the external dimensions of parcels, weighs and scans the barcode for postage verification. It also scans the parcel as part of the Track and Trace system. This information is cross-referenced against the customer’s Statement of Mailing. Parcels are then hand sorted (I knew there was some hand sorting!!) into cages or loose-loaded onto trucks for dispatch.
 
All parcels are placed on the Parcel Conveyor System as soon as they enter the plant and are sorted immediately to their destination.
 
After visiting the first and third floors, we were taken to the second floor which houses five letter carrier depots which make up the Caledon Depot and administrative offices. I was pretty stoked about this floor as one of my friends who is from our hometown works as a Letter Carrier in Ottawa. I was thrilled to see her in action loading up her mail bags for the day. She was shocked to see mom and me in her high security workplace. This is Lisa. Check out her legs :-)

Lisa...one of Ottawa's 300 Letter Carriers

After two hours, the tour came to an end. I was completely boggled by the details of mail processing. I suppose I had never given it much thought. If you ever get the chance to visit a mail processing plant, I encourage you to check it out. You may start thinking that stamps are relatively cheap when you see what is involved with mailing one letter. The OMPP opens its doors to the public twice a year. If you are in the Ottawa area, I would highly recommend it.



Bins of sorted letters getting ready to send out for delivery

   Another cool fact: each evening the Canada Post trucks drive around the city emptying the street mailboxes. It turns out that it's not only letters that end up in those boxes. The OMPP receives on average 50 wallets, 30 cell phones and lots of keys daily among other undesirables like dog poop, cold pizza, dirty kleenex, spilled coffee. I suppose people mistake the mailboxes for garbage bins at times. But, good to know that if you find a wallet or keys or a cell phone, you can drop them into a mailbox and there is a person at the OMPP whose job is to get these items back to their rightful owners.

 
So, this concludes my first field trip. I hope you enjoyed my report. I am going on another field trip this Friday. Stay tuned as field trip #2 includes TLWR's first GIVEAWAY.......................

Ramblings and Announcements

Just not sure about this whole blogging thing. I am not sure what I am doing it for........

I mean, I have LOVED the people I have met, the letters I have received and the letter writing that I am doing once again. I am pumping out several per week whereas before TLWR I was receiving maybe three pieces of interesting mail per year and writing the odd Christmas card, sympathy card or card of encouragement. Oh, and loads of thank you cards. As far as writing letters, though, I had stopped writing letters years ago. I wonder if this is the case for some of you. How have YOU been inspired?

I am aware that there are a few people in the world who read this blog regularly and who probably feel a bit of excitement when they discover I have added a new post especially because my blogging is generally irregular and inconsistent. The thing is, I want to hear from all of YOU......Who is reading this blog besides my two sisters, my mother and a few friends??? I know you are out there as I check my stats occasionally and have discovered that this blog has made it to all corners of the planet. I would to see who is reading this blog from Vietnam, South Africa, Russia, to name a few.

I received a message from a friend who was the provider of the contact in Afghanistan for the Letter To A Soldier post. It turns out that "Kris" is in Canada this week for a visit home and he has reported that he has been overwhelmed with letters to fellow soldiers because of TLWR! It is almost expected now and he just announces, "Who's turn for a letter today?" What I would like to know is who has written to a soldier and who has heard back? I haven't heard back from my soldier but I am just assuming I brightened someone's day with my funky stationery and ramblings. If you did write and received a letter in return, let me know. Apparently, the first Letter Writing Revolution letter that arrived in Afghanistan was sent from Guelph, Ontario. Please do not send letters to the address on that post after October 15th as Kris will have finished his service overseas. Go HERE to find an updated mailing address for writing to a Canadian soldier overseas.

This is Chuck. He is serving in Afghanistan and will be home in a few weeks for a visit.
He and his wife took my prenatal classes and this is a photo of him holding his first Father's Day card from his son!

Due to a chance meeting, I will be getting a tour of the main Canada Post plant in Ottawa next week where all of the letters are sorted. The tour is at 7:30am as this is the time of day when the letter sorting floor is at maximum capacity. I think this is kind of cool and I am looking forward to seeing what actually happens to my letters after I drop them into the mailbox at my local post office. Of course, I will be reporting on this outing to all of you and will hopefully get some interesting photos.

Next week, I am hoping to get to my favourite stationery store in Ottawa to interview one of the owners and to offer you, my followers, a TLWR giveaway. Stay tuned for that!

I received the following from a friend/colleague. It's messages like this one that keep me motivated to continue on with the revolution!

"I have never been a letter writer but I have always loved looking for or making the most appropriate/best card for whomever I was sending it out to. I try to mail out birthday cards and Christmas cards to all past clients. But as the number of cards to send out grew and I received very little feed back I began to lose heart. While I loved the picking out, writing a special note , sticker on the envelope and the calm walk to the mailbox, I sarted feeling like no one really cared if they got a letter or not until.......... there in your picture on your blog is my Christmas card from two years ago  lovingly pinned up, out for all to see.....my card. So thank you, while I'm not the letter writer, I am again excited about the cards. I am off to look for the perfect one to send to you."

I mailed out several letters this week including a birthday gift to a special, not-so-little girl. Never get tired of seeing the stack of colourful envelopes, stamped and ready to mail. Have YOU been writing letters? Have YOU been getting any back. Did those of you who requested a letter from me, get your letters? Please answer my questions as comments below.

I love to hear from you.

Letters That Make a Difference~ Guest Blogger #2

Welcome to another TLWR follower who shares her experience in letter writing for a good cause.

____________________________________________

Like many of us, I’ve come to use e-mail (and increasingly, social media like Twitter and Facebook) and the occasional card to communicate with family, friends and colleagues.


But I do still write letters now and then. This blog, The Letter Writing Revolution, has got me thinking about those letters and what they represent.

For instance, sometimes I write letters to and on behalf of people I don’t even know. I do this through Amnesty International, a group whose millions of members and supporters work to protect human rights around the world.

After my second child was born, I rejoined Amnesty International, which I’d belonged to in my twenties. Late at night after getting the kids to bed, bleary-eyed but wanting to interact with the wider world, I would read a case now and then on the Amnesty International Canada website and write a letter on behalf of the people I read about – like the members of a Zimbabwean human rights organisation who were being assaulted and arrested, or opposition leaders in Chad who had disappeared and were believed to be in detention and at risk of torture. After a while I signed up to receive “Urgent Actions,” which meant that every month or two I’d receive an e-mail message about someone whose human rights were at risk, and I’d write a letter on their behalf.

The letters I wrote were never more than a page long, and I’d write to the authority named, often the head of state or a government minister or ambassador. I’d politely describe my concern about the person or people facing human rights abuses, and sign my name. Handwriting or typing the letters didn’t actually take that much time, and I’d challenge myself to find some personal link to the country or to use my own words, always using Amnesty International’s information as a guide.

Now, a few years later, I realise I’ve written dozens of letters. I’ve also participated in Amnesty International’s last two annual Write for Rights “writeathons,” with a stack of paper, cards, envelopes and stamps beside me. I’ve written to the presidents of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nicaragua, to the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to the Prime Minister of Canada, and many others. I’ve written cards to people imprisoned because of their political or religious beliefs, or their families. As I write, I think about what it means for the people who are receiving the correspondence – will my letter make them stop and think that an ordinary person living in Canada is writing to them about what is happening where they live?

It’s difficult to make a direct connection between letters sent and improvements in someone’s human rights situation, but positive change happens in over one-third of appeal cases. Amnesty International sometimes provides e-mail addresses and posts online petitions, but its Urgent Action coordinators believe that “handwritten letters carry more weight than an emailed appeal which is informal, impersonal and easy to delete.” Letters show, they say, that you are willing to take time and effort to write about someone.

Then there’s the personal connection. A couple of years ago I read in an Amnesty International newsletter about a Sudanese poet who was imprisoned in 1989 for his political beliefs. He received some two thousand cards, which he managed to keep hidden during eleven house searches after his release. In 2008 he flew to London and wrote back to everyone who had included a return address, inviting them to a thank-you party.

I’ve yet to be invited to a party, but I’ve received a few replies to my letters, including from several Canadian government ministers, the Mexican Ambassador, and the head of a government department in the Ukraine (along with official translation). I can’t be sure if any of my letters have made a difference, but if a letter I write might be read, then it’s one that I want to write.

____________________________________________

Denise Deby writes letters, occasional guest blogs and other things from her home in Ottawa. She is a big fan of TLWR, and also had the honour of having Julie as her doula when her first child was born.

Stationary Stationery

I just received a phone call from a man who knows everything there is to know about stationary. He is an expert in all things paper and makes his living selling paper products (i.e. writing paper, envelopes, ink, pens, cards, etc.) at a very cool store in Ottawa (watch for a special feature in an upcoming blog post). I am telling you, this guy knows his stuff. After hearing about TLWR, he checked out the blog.

Although we are planning to meet up in early September to talk about all things paper, I was surprised to get a call from him out of the blue this evening. He had something he wanted to share with me but feared appearing snobbish and hesitated to tell me some very important information. Here it is:

Stationary is actually Stationery........

That's right folks, when referring to paper and envelopes, the correct spelling ends with "ery" as opposed to "ary." Why is this so important? Well, in case you haven't read every single post on this blog, I have likely written this word incorrectly, oh, about 500 times!!!! I depend on my sisters to be the first readers to proofread each new post and even they didn't catch this. Better still, a dear friend who owns a custom invitation/stationery business also didn't know this. In fact, the paper guy estimates that probably 90% of the population spells this word the wrong way when referring to letter writing paper and envelopes. The "other" spelling  with the "ary" refers to something that isn't moving. I suppose then technically, stationery is stationary.......

Now I must embark on the task of reading through every single blog post since June 16th and make these corrections. One of my pet peeves is reading obvious spelling errors and grammatical flaws in blogs (in anything for that matter). I am so grateful that this was brought to my attention and I will now undo 30 years of incorrectly spelling this word and start spelling stationary as stationery.

Here's an easy way to remember:

When something is standing still, it’s stationary. That piece of paper you write a letter on is stationery. Let the “E” in “stationery” remind you of “envelope" or the "ER" in stationery remind you of the "papER."

Watch for a guest post coming soon!

Letters As Time Capsules

If you're new to this Blog, please read the very first post to understand what The Letter Writing Revolution is all about:

As my siblings and I get older, my mother is slowly sorting through old photographs, letters, ancient art projects and other paraphenelia from our youth. She figures we may as well have it back to pass onto our own children or do with it what we may. As far as she is concerned, she wants this excess out of her house. No sense keeping boxes of papers, letters and photographs from 20+ years ago.

As she purges, many handwritten letters surface. Some are filled with laughter and some with sadness.  There's the letter written when I was 16 years old when one of our cats came home with fleas. The fleas were attracted to me for some reason and so I was getting bitten daily. They weren't biting anyone else in the family and so there wasn't a lot of rush in getting the problem dealt with. Finally, I had enough and I wrote a letter to my parents stating that I would be moving in with my friend, Jessie, until the flea infestation was dealt with. I didn't stop there. I made sure that my parents were aware that I knew that the cat was obviously far more important than their daughter. Don't you love how dramatic teenagers can be!

Rebel Without a Cause.......circa 1987

There's a letter I wrote to my dad around the same time when he and my mom separated. I was 16 years old then and I reassured him that I loved him and that although I didn't understand why they were splitting up, I wasn't angry at them. Actually, when I think back, I was very angry but maybe in the moment of writing that letter I had achieved some level of peace. I also told him not to worry....I would look after "the kids" (my younger brother and sister) and our mom. Such maturity for someone so young.

Another letter written to my dad was a "love letter" of sorts in celebration of Father's Day. I was living in Whistler, British Columbia and I suppose being far away freed me up to express all that was in my heart. I had forgotten about this letter until my mom handed it to me over lunch a few days ago. At first I cringed as sometimes reading the words that were written when you thought you had figured everything out with the world can be rather embarrassing. I decided to read it anyway and was pleasantly surprised that I had shared so many personal thoughts with my dad. So many things that often go unsaid until it is too late. I was 24 years old when I wrote that particular letter and for a moment, I traveled back in time and recalled the young woman I was........the future still waiting to unfold.

I have a large collection of letters that I wrote and that my mother has returned to me. I hesitate to dig in and read them all for fear that they might reveal a part of myself that I have purposely chosen to deny or forget about. Then again, I may be reminded of the person that quietly resides within waiting for an opportunity to come forward and shine. The part of me that has had to take a back seat while I tend to the demands of my daily life. For now, the letters sit in a bag waiting to transport me to another time and place in my life whenever the urge strikes.

Sweet Child of Mine

I was teaching a prenatal class in Ottawa yesterday to six expectant couples. During the morning break I was sharing The Letter Writing Revolution with them. One mom-to-be asked, "Do thank you notes count?" to which I replied "Sort of but not quite." I chatted enthusiastically about my blog and about the lost art of letter writing. I asked if any of them had every written love letters to their partners and in response I received some shoulder shrugging. I talked about my Letter to a Soldier post and of course, the post on Love Letters. One of the dads-to-be promptly added the url for my blog into his Blackberry and announced that he was going to write me a letter. I am expecting him to. I don't take statements about letter writing lightly.

I think that when I return next week to teach their second and final prenatal class, I am going to suggest they start a project to not only contribute to the revolution but to also enhance their relationship with their unborn child. I am going to recommend that they start by writing a love letter to their unborn baby. When I was pregnant with our daughter, I kept a pregnancy journal which kept track of the many details of those 40 weeks + 5 days that I would have otherwise forgotten.

Photo by Marlys Symingon

My husband wrote a letter to our unborn baby who we lovingly referred to as Cletus the Fetus. Here is an excerpt from that letter:

Dear Cletus;

"Okay, okay....I know that you probably think that we are pretty weird for calling you "Cletus" but it was kind of funny at first and it has become somewhat familiar over the last few months. I am writing this to you to let you know what all was going on in my life while I eagerly waited to meet you. Both you mother and I (that still sounds weird to say) have a feeling that you are a boy. It probably does not help that your nickname is a boy's name but for the record we really do not have a preference either way. For me, I really like the idea of having a son to do all of those father/son things together but I also really like the idea of Daddy's Little Girl, as well...........

.......I am not sure how I am going to be as a father but right now I am not the best at saying mushy stuff but I hope to get a little better with it as time goes on. I have never been very good at expressing myself but I will give it a valiant effort, just bear with me, okay? You haven't even arrived yet but you have turned our lives upside down. Every spare moment I am thinking of you and how much I want to meet you. All of the sudden I notice every baby and wonder what you will look like. Will you have more hair than them or be bald as a cue ball? Mind you, with the amount of heartburn your mother is having you had better have a full head of hair (it is an old wives tale). Will you be a happy baby? Will you have chubby little cheeks? Will you have your mother's stunning blue eyes? I mentioned before how deeply in love I am with your mother. I thought that it was not possible to love anyone more deeply until I heard about you. I know that it is probably a cliche but I honestly would make any sacrifice for you without any hesitation and I have not even met you yet! Anyway, I could go on forever and not get any closer to explaining how much you have brought to our lives already. I know you will teach us many things about love and life and hopefully we will teach you what it means to be loved and how to love.

So, take care, little one. We are anxiously awaiting your arrival but take your time and just come when you are ready. Know that you will be greeted by two very nervous but very loving parents that promise to always be there for you."

Love Dad

My husband with our daughter, Meredith (2004)

I may share this letter with my class and then gently encourage them to spend an evening each writing a letter to their baby.........their hopes and fears, their excitement and their wishes, what is going on in the world as they write, what their dreams are for the birth and the weeks after and of course, their feelings towards this baby that is still on the inside. Then, I am going to ask them to write a letter every year on the eve of or on a day close to their child's birth day. Imagine when the child is older and receives a box of letters that have been written over the years out of love for them......the first one being written even before they were born.

If you are expecting a baby and reading this, perhaps this is something you can consider. If you know someone who is pregnant, an interesting shower gift would be to give them a decorative box, beautiful pens and paper to begin a tradition of writing letters to their child. These letters can be given at the child's 18th birthday or graduation or for Christmas one year. As they get older, the letter can be written in the days leading up to the birthday and they can receive it as one of their gifts. This can be an annual tradition of receiving a handwritten letter from one or both of their parents. This inexpensive gift would be far more valuable then anything you could buy in a store. Guaranteed.