It’s the last day of the Month of Letters Challenge. Congratulations! You mailed at least 24 things.
I have been amazed by how many people dived into this challenge. So many people said that this was the first time they’ve written a letter in years. What made you want to join in? Has it been satisfying?
For me, it has been amazing. I’ve connected with friends that I don’t see often enough. I’ve started correspondences with new people. And I’ve carved out a tiny spot of calm in every day where I focus on just one thing at a time. It has been wonderful.
I’m planning on carrying on writing letters all year. And next February? We’ll do this again. Oh, yes we will.
And now, let me close by quoting Emily Post on How to End a Letter.
ENDING A LETTER
Just as the beginning of a letter should give the reader an impression of greeting, so should the end express friendly or affectionate leave-taking. Nothing can be worse than to seem to scratch helplessly around in the air for an idea that will effect your escape. 19
“Well, I guess I must stop now,” “Well, I must close,” or, “You are probably bored with this long epistle, so I had better close.” 20
All of these are as bad as they can be, and suggest the untutored man who stands first on one foot and then on the other, running his finger around the brim of his hat, or the country girl twisting the corner of her apron. 21HOW TO END A LETTER
An intimate letter has no end at all. When you leave the house of a member of your family, you don’t have to think up an especial sentence in order to say good-by. Leave-taking in a letter is the same:
“Good-by, dearest, for to-day
Ha! Ending letters was always the hardest part for me – possibly why I have so many unfinished missives lying around. “I’ll stop boring you now” or some variant was a really common theme when I was in high school. So terrible!
Since February has a bonus day this year, I sent two postcards this morning. Adding in a couple of non-postcard items, I think I mailed 28 items this month, hooray!
It’s been a great month 🙂
I like the way van Gogh often ended letters: “With a firm handshake.” But actually, I’ve never used it. 🙂
Whew! That was a lot of writing. I sent far more than I received…but what I received far surpassed my expectations. What a wonderful idea this was. I am glad that I did it and know that I will continue to send hand-written letters.
While I didn’t make the post every day (I missed five mailing days out of the month), I did manage to send 32 notes and postcards, plus 12 story postcards (I didn’t write them, just mailed them), and I feel this was a real success! In fact, I just invested in more letter writing paper, envelopes, and stamps.
Things I sent to folks (along with letters) included: books. stickers. recipe clippings. and a set of vintage postcards. oh, and a sonnet. 🙂
I’m guilty of wimpy letter endings but you’ve inspired me to work on improving. The month of letters has been such a satisfying experience. I posted my final two letters this morning for a total of 48. Now that all my writing materials are dusted off and easily accessed, my goal is to write one or two letters a week. Thanks for the challenge!
I missed several days due to illness, but I did send 29 Author Thank You Cards, and several postcards and letters to friends and new acquaintances from this site. All in all, a great success!
I choose to embrace, “I must close.” It’s perfectly serviceable, and often true. So, harumpf, Ms. Post. A grand harumpf indeed.
It’s hard to believe that it is the last day, a slight sense of sadness creeps over me when I think of it. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen to this site, so I have copied all the bio’s and addresses of the people who posted on address central, that way I can have the opportunity to continue to connect and get to know many new friends. One of the best things that has happened during the month of letters is connecting with new people both on here and in person as I share with people that I meet in coffee shops as I write, or at the post office or on the bus…. what the month of letters is all about. Thanks again Mary it’s been a blast. I will continue to write to friends new and old, and I look forward to next year already! Until the next time, with fondest affection Lois
I missed a few days, but I wrote a letter every day, so in that way I think it was a great success for me! I will be sending off the final batch of what I wrote this week in the morning. I wanted to do it today, but have been in bed for 3 days sick. 🙁 Rotten allergies. (Don’t worry- everything in my house, including my desk and writing supplies, has been misted with Lysol so that none of my letter recipients will get it!) A wonderful challenge and so happy to have been a part of it! I will continue to write to some of the people I found here whom I didn’t get to in the course of the month. It is up to them as to whether or not they write back, but I hope they do! Blessings to all, and I’m looking forward to next year! Yours Very Sincerely, Jenny
PS- I meant to add that even though the remainder of the 24 handmade bird envelopes done specifically for this challenge will go out in the morning, I DID send out 29 pieces of mail over the month of February! 🙂
I have sent close to 300 enveloped messages this month to 12 friends and coworkers, and didn’t miss a day of sending each of them a letter, postcard, or item.
There were days when I thought that day’s dispatch was too banal or confusing or impersonal. But in the end, my fears were groundless. I greatly enjoyed the challenge, as did everyone who received my letters. This month gave me a chance to test a few ideas and explore what a “letter” can be, in addition to trying out a few writing exercises. Also, I had the chance to learn more about myself and about my friends, many of whom took to responding more eagerly than I had anticipated. (I received close to 20 responses as of today. More might be coming…)
Regrettably, I didn’t get a chance to do or create certain things — writing a review of something I regularly eat or drink as if it were new to me, custom handmade postcards — but I did get to make many great things: 10-word letters; 10-minute letters; merchandise tags that had different complimentary adjectives on each side; imagined To-Do lists for myself and for friends; memos dictated to an imaginary, and sassy, secretary; letters with QR codes as part of the message; an impromptu birthday poem.
My writing calluses are back, and it will feel strange to not write 12 letters a day, 6 days a week. Hopefully, some of my friends will want to continue exchanging communiques’ with me, albeit on a more infrequent basis. (I still have many stamps and envelopes left unused.)
Now it’s time for me to catch up on reading all of the books I’ve been neglecting this month — for a different challenge.
Thank you, Mary, for coming up with this wonderful idea!
With much gratitude,
Steven Kwan
Tucson, Arizona
This project brought so much gratitude into my day. Each thing I mailed reminded me of a person I’m glad is in my life. What a wonderful practice!
I am going to continue on this path….it’s a blessing for me to write at least one letter a day and it’s been a positive thing…would like to connect with more people who don’t want to see this end and who want to carry on….With hope, Irish