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hallman76 | 1 year ago

I really like this idea! Could you share more about your letters?

What sorts of things do you include? I assume different topics for different people. Do the loved ones know that these letters exist?

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sys32768|1 year ago

I highly recommend it!

I left instructions to my children in a safe they know about. I also keep digital copies on a flash drive in the safe.

Each letter is printed, signed and sealed in an envelope. Each has a name, title, and sometimes directions on where to send. In some cases, I don't know the current address of the recipient so I just put my best guess and hope my children can find them.

Generally I polish them and add new content based on personally meaningful changes in my life that year, or new interactions I had with the person.

In rare cases, such as the one to my ex-wife, I have rewritten the entire thing. It grows shorter each year, but I remain polite.

I also plan to record a short video for my children each year they can watch or share. Obviously I can't cover everything in it but it will be short, sweet, and probably funny. I will just keep each one year over year so they have more material to work with. I will store copies on two or three USB flash drives.

My idea for this was inspired ~10 years ago by a co-worker whose friend--a father and husband--was killed by a piece of metal debris that flew into his car windshield while he was driving on the freeway.

This past weekend I found a memorial bench dedicated to a man who died of a quick late-stage cancer, not much older than me. The motto on the plaque read: DON'T WAIT