Making a tradition of connection

I’ve long aspired to be the kind of person who sends cards or letters. Recently, I became that kind of person.

Skip to the bottom for links to photo albums from Chris and Josh’s 2018 Wedding and from Scotty’s 2022 Celebration of Life.

The initial spark was losing my brother Scott unexpectedly last June. I’ve been shocked into gratitude for what we have now, in the present, and seizing the opportunity to connect with people I care about.

First, I mailed a note and some photos to my Grandpa Beveren, who had sent beautifully crafted cards with photos like clockwork longer than I can remember. He called the day he received it, gushing with joy – it’s something he saw less from my generation. It was wonderful to hear his voice and connect. And that was the last time I spoke with him, because he passed not much later.

It was extremely meaningful to connect with Grandpa Beveren before he passed, and the experience taught me he had been on to something.

So, Chris and I decided to start an annual letter, inspired by my grandpa and a number of friends and family who’ve made it a tradition. We love to know how folks are, what they’re up to, and how their lives are changing.

As of today, 116 letters are in the mail. That is 34 fewer than we had hoped to get out, and probably another 50 fewer than where we’ll find equilibrium. Just pushing Dunbar’s number.

Overall, things didn’t go exactly as planned, but I learned some things for next year and it’s already worth it for the conversations I’ve had in the course of getting updated contact info.

Now that they’re in the post, I just hope people appreciate them!

WITH all that said, being that the envelopes were leftover from wedding invitations complete with a domain name, we needed to point it to something more current … like this blog post …

… and some photo albums y’all may appreciate:

• 2018-05-19 Chris & Josh’s Wedding, photography by Maria Villano (Google Photos and Nextcloud)
• 2022-07-17 Scotty’s Celebration of Life, photography by Norah Burrows (Google Photos and Nextcloud)

With love,
Josh (and Chris too, but he’s asleep)