Letter From Camp

So when I was eleven, my parents sent me to Camp Pokanoka in Ottawa, one of my last Girl Scout events.

I learned to swim at Camp Pokanoka and (apparently) how to sum up one day at camp on a greeting card.

My mother texted me this photo the other day and asked if I remembered it - and then offered to mail all the cards to me. 

Of course, my first thought as a home-schooled mom was, "Where's the cursive?"

But maybe I was writing for posterity. The printing is probably easier to read.

Enjoy!

To Pen Pal or Not Pen Pal: Thoughts?

I found this photo in my blog drafts from 2018. It's a piece of correspondence from my oldest grandson, who's now thirteen.

About five years ago, I started a monthly mailing with eight grandchildren, which I suspended in March when the pandemic began. At the time, people had some fears about getting COVID through the mail. Mostly, though, I was frustrated with the mail service.

For example, if I added extra postage to a card, one might come back still demanding more. So in a household of three children, one wouldn't get his or her card.

Sometimes, a card would simply never arrive at its destination. The affected grandchild would wail about why I forgot him or her. These examples happened more times than they should have happened.

So I'm on the fence about restarting it.

On the pro side, the kids loved "mail day," as one of my daughters-in-law told me.

As did I when a grandchild put in the effort to send something to me in return.

This is why I can't decide.

Better Than a Throwback

I have a lot of grandchildren.

And even though most of them live within a 30 to 40-minute drive, visiting is hampered due to variances in everyone's work schedules and an overall lack of ready transportation for me.

But when kids are young and visits infrequent, it's hard to grow relationships.

So last year, I made pen pals out of the eight youngest with a goal if I could keep the commitment, I would branch out to the older ones, too.

Each month, I would send something: a small toy or game or note or recipe coloring sheet featuring an upcoming holiday.

My daughter-in-law Jennifer said her boys love "mail day" and will send me photos of them opening their letters with huge smiles on their faces.

We've had a few glitches: letters that never arrive, letters with postage coming back to me for postage, letters that come back to me "address unknown" although the address is correct.

But overall, it's been a satisfying experience and one that's stretched my creativity.

On Tuesday, as I was leaving for work, I saw a letter had come into the mail for me. Three of the Fourth of July coloring sheets had come back to me.

But not in the way I expected.

Hope you're smiling, too! :)