I completed the Month of Letters challenge in February, but got sidetracked and did not report my progress through much of the second half of the month, so I’m going to catch up on that now.
Month of Letters, or LetterMo, encourages participants to write and send at least one piece of handwritten snail mail per day during the month of February, and to respond to mail that is received. Bills, advertisements, and such do not count, and requirements are suspended on Sundays and holidays when the mail does not go out.
I’ve listed the mail I’ve sent in blog entries through the first half of the month. For February 15-28, I sent the following:
Feb. 15 – I wrote and mailed a postcard to a Postcrosser in Japan. (Postcrossing is a site that helps 800,00+ members send postcards to each other all over the world.)
Feb. 17– I sent two pieces of mail this day.
- The first was a long letter to a friend in Pennsylvania whom I don’t see nearly as often as I’d like to.
- The other was a note included in a packet of forms I had to sign and send back to a genealogist I’ve hired to help me collect the paperwork necessary to claim my Italian citizenship. (I was born and live in the U.S. but am eligible for Italian citizenship and want to be a dual citizen.) Sending back forms wouldn’t generally count for LetterMo, but I take the opportunity to thank her for the great work she has been doing and wrote a note of appreciation for all her work.
Feb. 18 – This day I was traveling. But I did fit in the time to write one letter from my room at a b&b. It went to a pen pal in New England who is also taking part in LetterMo.
Feb. 19 & 20 – These were a Sunday and the Presidents’ Birthday holiday, so there was no mail and no LetterMo responsibilities.
Feb. 21 – On this day, I wrote a letter to a pen pal in Texas.
Feb. 22 – Today’s LetterMo letter was to a pen pal in Oklahoma.
Feb. 23 – The only piece of outgoing mail today was a postcard to a Postcrosser in France.
Feb. 24 – Remember that family history book I compiled originally for my father and made revised copies for other family members, including the one I mailed to my sister in California on Feb. 16? Today I sent a copy of the same book, with a birthday card, to another of my sisters, this one in South Carolina.
Feb. 25 – Today’s letter to a LetterMo participant in Arizona was written in response to a LetterMo letter received this month.
Feb. 26 – Another Sunday. No mail.
Feb. 27 – I wrote and mailed two letters today, both to LetterMo participants.
- One went to a new correspondent in Pennsylvania.
- I wrote the other to a pen pal in Los Angeles to whom I have owed a letter for months.
Feb. 28 – On the final LetterMo day, I mailed three items:
- A postcard of a pretty teapot to a tea-drinking Postcrosser in New York.
- A get-well card to a local friend who is having surgery.
- And a photo of some of my ancestors with a note on the back, included in another packet of documents sent to the professional genealogist (see Feb. 17) who is doing some research for me.
And that is a wrap on the Month of Letters 2023 edition! Interested in participating? See the website here and start stocking up on stationery for next February! And if you have any questions, post them in the comments section and I’ll do my best to answer them.
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