MAMACADABRA

At the beginning of the summer I mentioned that my uncle broke his neck.  It’s been a long journey for him as he’s worked to recover.  He remains in rehab, is making huge strides, and by this time next year he may be walking again.  I mean…it’s remarkable on so many levels.

I’ve always been fond of writing letters but there seems to be less and less opportunity.  I email my friends constantly, plus people I know read my blog (at least once and awhile), so there is not one ounce of information that I could put in a letter that they don’t already know.  It’s not like I keep secrets.  But when my uncle began the rehab process I started sending letters.  Letters packed with pictures, homemade cards from my girls, and signs that said “get well soon!”  I sent several over the summer but then school started.  And all bets were off.

There’s something about school lunches, getting kids to activities, signing-up to be a Girl Scout troop leader (twice), and having to work full-time that shoots any resemblance of normalcy to hell.  And thus, the letters to my uncle came to a screeching halt as of Labor Day.

I think about it all the time.  ALL.  THE.  TIME.  While I’m driving to work at 6:30am, or falling asleep at 11pm, or sitting at gymnastics without my computer.  I think about it in every moment when I can’t do a damn thing about it.  Yesterday I happened to be with my mom when my aunt called.  She said that our letters and pictures and cards are hung all around his room in the rehab facility.  That they love them.  Ugh…like a stab to the heart.

This weekend I will be working on a letter/package that will be the best we’ve sent yet.  There’s a lot to catch them up on…our fall has been full of activities and changes and there are tons of pictures.  But…on my way into the office this morning…I had an idea.  What if I make this letter/package spectacular.  I mean…REALLY good.  And this, my friends, is where you come in.

What if I made a small but heartfelt plea to all of you.  What if you wrote “Hi John!” with a sharpy on a piece of notebook paper, took a picture, and emailed it to me?  What if your kids made a sign and you took a picture and you emailed it to me?  What if you laid a sign on your sleeping dog and emailed it to me?  What if I could get a bunch of pictures of strangers saying hello that I could include in the letter I send this weekend?  Wouldn’t that be so cool?  Wouldn’t it be so awesome for him to know that strangers are not only thinking of him and sending good thoughts but taking five minutes out of their crazy hectic lives to send a picture to prove it?

I’m hoping you can help!  I won’t post them, or use them for anything other than this project, I’m simply going to print them and send them in a care package.  I’d be so grateful to receive even just a few to include.  Pictures can be emailed to:

theyearofwhatif@aol.com

See…this is where the idea of a Village of What Iffers comes in.  What if, when one of us needs a little boost, the rest of us step up to provide just that?  Wouldn’t that be amazing???

TODAY:  What if I can send the loveliest care package imaginable to my uncle who is battling through rehab to recover from what could have been a fatal injury?  What if we work together to make life better and more sparkly for others by being a Village of What Iffers?