Woman of Letters

Today was a day to catch up on correspondence.

For one thing, when I went to that performance of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, they had two kinds of programs--a mimeographed one for kids and a "real" one for adults.  I picked up two of the kids' programs and sent a letter to the girls, enclosing two copies of the program.

I told them about the play and how it was done, about the hand made backdrops projected on the back wall, and on how two players played all the parts.  It was kind of fun to share the experience with them.

After that, I decided to plough through my Compassion correspondence.

About once a month, I write a generic letter, with photos, and send it off to all of the 29 kids that I write to.  Compassion has the option of sending things by mail, or sending by email using one of their 35 specially designed stationery sheets.   Examples--

When individual replies come in from the kids, then, I write personal letters, answering what they have to say in their letters.  There are an awful lot of "I am fine, how are you" type letters (only with more religious overtones).  But some of the kids have become pretty good writers.  For the little guys, who can't write letters yet, they have form type letters, with a series of fill in the blank questions about things like "my family" or "my hobbies" or "my hopes for the future."

I decided this month they must be doing something new in their curriculum in Kenya because I received two of the "dreams" forms and both of the kids, a boy and a girl, both around 7, told me that they want to learn to drive a car and to fly a plane.  The boy wants to be a pilot.  In all the years I have been doing this, nobody has expressed interest in cars or planes, though I admit that I get an awful lot of pictures drawn, especially of trucks and helicopters.

Perhaps one of my best writers is Erick, from Kenya.  He is 17 and I've been sponsoring him for about 5 years.  In the beginning he used to draw me beautiful pictures of animals, but for some reason he stopped doing that when I complimented him and told him how much I love them!  I wrote to him today about the death of Dame Daphne Sheldrick and wonder if he has heard of her.  I have asked him about elephants in the past, but he has never responded.  He also told me that he has joined a football team and hopes to get into the championship games, and he is happy because the recent contentious Kenya elections went well and "we are having peace in our minds because the elections were peaceful."  He is also perhaps the most religious and the most serious of all my group.  He told me today that "I am really working hard to make it in life.  Every day is a struggle and every life is a struggle but we must fight to make it in life."

Miché from Haiti is now 15 and in the 8th grade.  He told me that they are getting ready to celebrate Flag Day in his country and wanted to know if we celebrate flag day here.  He is still writing to me about Christmas, 4 months later.  I think this is the 3rd time he has written about his Christmas.  Must have been very special!

Divine is a teenager from Uganda.  I wrote to her about the poem Brianna wrote and sent her a .jpg of the text.  I also told her about some of my "sparks of happiness" and asked what hers was.  I told her about working puzzles with my mother and sent her a photo of my mother working a puzzle.

Theresa, from Ghana, is my "sad girl."  I chose her about 3 years ago because she was perhaps the saddest child I had ever seen.  We get periodic updated photos of the kids and I have yet to see her smile, though I always comment on how special her photo is and how much I would love to see her smile.  I try to do a lot of encouragement and show her a lot of love and I told her, too, about Brianna's poem and talked about "sparks of happiness."  I somehow don't think this little girl has many sparks of happiness in her life.

Luis Henrique from Brasil wrote perhaps the shortest letter, but he was telling me about his recent travel to the beach in Icapui.  I had to smile, having hosted so many Brasilians and knowing their love of beaches.  He even drew me a picture of the beach with people standing along the edge of the water.

Rifaldi, 12, from Indonesia is also a good letter writer and the only one of the kids who calls me "grandma."  (Fred from the Philippines calls me Auntie Sykes and Annie Rose, also from the Philippines calls me Auntie Beverly Sykes.)  Rifaldi me about a photo of pumpkins I sent to him and said that the farmers in his area are planting pumpkins now.

There were a few more letters that I wrote to the kids and probably a week or so, I will write a group letter to all 29 of them.

Letters--We get Letters

When I was in grammar school, there was a woman named Mrs. Chegwidden who found pen pals in England for girls in the United States.  I was matched with a girl (whose name I have forgotten) and we corresponded for awhile...maybe a year or two?  I don't remember when or how the correspondence ended.  I also corresponded with my cousin Peach for a very long time, pretty much from when she was in high school until her first child was born.

In those days, the arrival of the mailman was something magical.  I was like Winthrop from The Music Man waiting for the Wells Fargo wagon to arrive. 

O-ho the Wells Fargo Wagon is a-comin' now,
I don't know how I can ever wait to see.
It could be sompin' for sumone who is
No relation but it could be sump'n special
Just for me!

I just loved writing letters and was happy when I had someone who would write back.  When Char was living in Alaska, we had a lively correspondence.  When my friend Phil got sick and was in and out of the hospital, he enjoyed letters and while he rarely wrote back, I wrote to him every day for a couple of years. 

The 1980s was a golden era for letter writing for me.  It was the decade when we were hosting a lot of foreign students and when they returned home, many of them wrote to me for awhile.  Our mailman said that I got more international mail than anybody in Davis.  In fact, someone wrote a letter to "Mrs. Beverly, Davis, CA" and they delivered it to me!

With the advent of the internet age, gradually more and more people communicated electronically.  That was at least as good, if not better, because it was instant gratification. Not the excitement of opening an envelope and taking out some gem, but still mutual communication.  It's how Peggy and I became friends, by writing to each other frequently throughout the week.  For many years.

I "met" my friend Ron on line and we were good electronic pen pals (and eventually face to face friends) for several years.  Less now that he's found love and has a husband to take all of his spare time.

Finding Compassion was wonderful.  Not only could I help children around the world, but we actually corresponded with each other.  After so many years, I have to admit that most of the letters I get are pretty boring.  The same thing letter after letter ("I am fine with my family and I hope you are too.  I pray for you and I hope you pray for me,") with little actual information about what is going on in their lives.

But there are a handful who are a joy to hear from.  Annie Rose is one of the best.  She always talks to me about what she is doing ("Intramural is almost near this coming week.  I do practice on our mass dance for the coming contest in the different grade level.  Maybe our activities take one week.  Many games and events will happen soon.") 

Josphat, whom I decided to sponsor because he had been orphaned and was living with relatives, has also become a great letter writer ("I'm promoted to the next class seven come next year.  At home I like to help do several work like cooking, taking care of the siblings.")

Rifaldi who was kind of an "also ran" when I took him on is just a delightful correspondent ("In the end of 2017 there was a total solar eclipse in my country.  Some of the areas were affected.  The moon covered the sun so that it was as dark as it is at night....At school there are some intern teachers who are practicing to teach.  I like an intern teacher named Anton because he is very kind.")

Swap Bot has yielded some interactions with people, but none have blossomed into a real "pen pal" friendship yet.  Maybe soon.

But the most rewarding letter I received last year, or maybe the year before, was from Brianna.  I have been writing to both girls weekly, to keep the grandma relationship alive.  It has worked wonderfully when we see each other and when Brianna's first letter came it was such a treat.  She was just learning to write.  Yesterday I got her latest letter, which is a real letter, telling me about the dog they are taking care of and a sleep-over she is having at a friend's house.  I am looking forward to this correspondence growing...at least I hope it will.

Yesterday this also came --

It was my very first letter from 6 year old Lacie, decorated with the Washi tape that I gave each of the girls for Christmas.  She is pleased with herself that she is learning to read, and I expect that in the future she, too, will begin to write occasionally.

Snail mail isn't dead.  My granddaughters and I are going to keep it going (at least until they each have their own e-mail accounts!)