Writing a card or a letter

When was the last time you hand wrote a card or letter and posted it? Today texting, emails or online cards make expressing the written word so easy for us that the physical action of choosing a card or piece of paper, writing on it, addressing the envelope before putting on the stamp and then posting it with fingers crossed for it to arrive on time now seems so old fashioned! Yet how lovely it is to open a card or a letter that has been delivered through your letterbox! What a pleasure to know that someone cares enough about you to do that! In receiving the card and then displaying it each time it is noticed you are reminded that someone cares. Birthdays or bereavements, Christmas or Easter, Invitations or apologies, the written word and tactile experience of a card are often more welcome now than ever in these times of limited social contact.

Recently I volunteered to write some cards on behalf of a charity. As I wrote each card to an unknown person, I thought of how they would feel on opening it. My writing is not the neatest as typing seems to have worsened it, so I took my time forming each letter and each word. The message inside was simple. My job was part of a process that would ultimately see the cards personally addressed and hand delivered to young offenders. I wondered how the person opening the card would feel. Would they care? Would it make a difference to their day of being locked up?      I thought of the 3 Rs I had learned at school for justifying punishment: Retribution- they did the crime, so they do the time; Restitution- justice for the victim who had suffered at their hand and finally Rehabilitation- so that when the offender completes their confinement they have been changed for the better. Cynics would argue that when we all come out of lockdown we are as likely to change our ways as much as the young offenders the cards were headed for. Yet we all have this chance for change. Whether we take it or not is up to us.