Snail Mail Beats Texting for Impact

One of the best parts of being in the GaGa Sisterhood is having access to so many interesting grandmas and hearing the creative ways they stay connected to their grandchildren. Beverly recently told me about a gift she gave her 18-year old granddaughter before she went away to college.

Beverly and her granddaughter have a great relationship and stay connected by texting each other. But when her granddaughter moved away, Beverly wanted to stay in touch the “old-fashioned way!” So she gave her granddaughter a small purse decorated with international stamps and filled it with stamped postcards that she addressed to herself.

During the first week of school, Beverly texted her granddaughter to tell her she’d mailed her a package of homemade granola. She asked her to let her know when it arrived. Her granddaughter said she would.

A day after the package was due to arrive, Beverly had not heard from her granddaughter and was worried that something had happened to the package.

She imagined she might be too busy with schoolwork to respond. Still, she wanted to confirm that the granola had arrived safely. She texted her granddaughter to find out. Beverly got this text message back:

“Grandma, instead of texting you, I mailed one of your postcards to thank you.”

Beverly was so touched, she could barely hold back her tears. She received her granddaughter’s postcard a few days later, saying she and her friends had all sat outside enjoying the granola. One of her friends said she sure was lucky to have such a loving grandma.

In these days of texting and instant messaging, we sometimes forget how meaningful a hand-written note can be.