Kindness Matters

I volunteer for two different organizations writing letters to individuals being held in immigration detention centers, and today I received my first response letter. It began, "Thank you for your kind letter," and while he wrote about several things, the gist was just that.

Kindness matters.

I love letters. I love writing them, sending them, receiving them. And a hand-written letter? Oooohhh...chef's kiss. Sadly, I type most of mine. My handwriting is atrocious. I don't know how to hold my pen or pencil. It's embarrassing, really. I play with different grips. None feel natural, and none improve my handwriting. So typed it is. 

I received the letter as I am halfway through this book. It is a collection of letters written to the strangers these writers can't forget. The chance meetings (sometimes sightings from a distance) that have stuck with them for years (decades in some cases). It is such a beautiful premise.

I find myself reading some letters very quickly. Others...whoa. I have to think and reread and sit with the magnitude of their moment or the beauty of their writing. Or both. 

This book is feeding my soul this week.