"Offering handwritten hope to comfort the elderly"
When the world ends, there almost naturally arises a deep need to return to our roots. In the last few months, many people have returned to certain gestures that we had almost completely forgotten about with the advent of technology in our daily lives. Among these: sending handwritten letters and greeting cards.
Breaking out of isolation
In the midst of isolation and loss of contact with the outside world, these colorful, fragrant, tenderly drawn pieces of paper have become a source of hope for many seniors. Loaded with memories of a time when the mail was one of the only means of communication, greeting cards and letters have allowed many to re-establish or maintain ties with their loved ones.
Paper and Pencil
While receiving a thought in the mail is a joy for the recipient, it also brings a deep sense of accomplishment to the person who puts pen to paper. As time flies by in our personal and professional lives, stopping to choose paper, card, pencil, photographs to send, a few drops of our perfume to remind him of our scent is a ritual of self-giving that is good to reconnect with.
At HUMA, we revive the tradition
At Huma, we thought it would be a good idea to revive the tradition of handwritten letters during the pandemic. Much like we usually do during the holiday season, members of our team took it upon themselves to send greeting cards to some of our clients. This gesture, although simple in appearance, had a considerable impact on most of the recipients. They had in their hands proof that life had not totally forgotten them. That beyond the virus that paralyzed the planet and made many of their loved ones disappear, there were still people, somewhere, who still thought about them.
Ideas to share
Several families also had the fabulous idea of sending drawings of rainbows to grandma, letters of sincere love to dad, and cards wishing health and happiness to an aunt in palliative care. This resurgence of communication through the mail revives the tenderness of tangibility. Preserved in a precious box, handwritten paper offers a pause in the eternal. It is the palpable witness of a hand carefully forming words that can be held to a heart in times of great loneliness. It carries in its fibers a part of this niece, this son-in-law, these grandchildren who have laid their hands on it, but especially their empathy, their joys, their sweetness.
Comfort for our elders
Although society is gradually returning to normal, why not keep this delightful trend of writing to the elderly to counter their loneliness. Just imagine them finding some energy, their hearts beating with anticipation, to go and pick up a little of our sharing at the post office box. And if, as the old saying goes, words fly and writings stay, we could thus witness a superb explosion of roots of humanitude!
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