Did I send the wrong handwritten note to someone?

Somehow I switched the notes. Oops.

The note doesn’t match the envelope. As you can see, the card was mailed to S. The note was written to K.

S. and K. live in different cities.

S. texted to tell me. Chagrined, I admitted my anxiety that when I sit down to write notes, I will stick notes in the wrong envelopes.

Earlier last week, I wrote and mailed 12 notes in one day. Now I have to wonder if any of those notes ended up in the wrong hands.

No excuses. I can’t blame the coronavirus, even though I mentioned the national crisis in one note. The other note was a birthday greeting.

Both were time sensitive and I can say I hurried to catch the letter carrier in order to avoid going to the Post Office myself.

Missed Opportunities Costs

A friend once assured me that a hand-written note is never late. In this case perhaps, better never would have been better than late.

Only now all 3 of us are laughing.

People come to mind throughout the day, and some more than ever as I try to imagine their circumstances. There remains no shortage of people I could write. I have plenty of stamps.

Some live alone.

Some have a hospitalized family member.

Some have had to change wedding plans.

Some have had to postpone memorial services.

Some worry about finances.

Some grieve the loss of the daily routine.

Jobs, school, appointments and all the plans that filled the pages of every person’s calendar suddenly disappeared.

To say that the year 2020 is off to a bad start understates the obvious. We have never in my lifetime had a year fraught with such uncertainty.

Now, more than ever, we need personal connections.

What happens when someone recognizes your handwriting?

On Sunday, I picked up a book that I hadn’t read in years. Inside was an envelope I had used as a bookmark. I slid the card out and immediately recognized the handwriting of a friend who I seldom get to see. She lives in another city.

After turning to the back of the card to confirm that the note came from her, I texted and we began a brief catch-up conversation.

Without the original note though, none of that would have happened.

The note itself triggered the connection. The note made me smile. The note I held in my hand had taken on a life of its own that then led to renewing our friendship, a friendship thinned by time and distance.

These days, social distancing eliminates personal interaction that just a few weeks ago each of us took for granted.

But today, you and I can still send a handwritten note to let someone, somewhere know that we are thinking of them and that we care.

And if you switch your notes and envelopes, you can all laugh about it later.