In a general sense, everyone loves mail, don’t they? Maybe we don’t care for the sight of student loan due dates piling up on our computer desk or the sight of yet another credit card approval when we haven’t even applied for one in the first place.
Still, nothing compares to the feeling of opening a warmly lit, handwritten letter from a friend or a loved one. Handwritten treasures are more than just words from the heart. They become a piece of art, a souvenir, the warmth of white sand at the beach when you’re having a rainy day. They are a piece of gold.
We all need welcoming words of encouragement from time to time telling us that we are strong enough to overcome whatever it is were dealing with. We need reminders that that we’re not alone, a friendly hello, a reminder that we’re important even when we don’t feel it. We need to smile. Girls Love Mail helps spread these encouraging words to women who may need them more than others: a woman who has just been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Finding out this sort of news is hard enough, so Girls Love Mail specifically targets women who are newly diagnosed with breast cancer and sends them words written by volunteers. Kind words from a stranger may help them get through their day and the day after with a bit more hope than when they began.
It’s easy to feel alone when you’re in your own head, but Girls Love Mail was created by Gina L. Mulligan to show that there is still hope and compassion in others. You don’t have to fight your battles alone because — no matter where you are, who you’re there with, or how you may feel — there are others out there who are in the same boat as you are, who share the same feelings, who need the same help. There are other people out there who are very similar to you. We all need a hand to hold from time to time.
On the organization’s website, founder Gina Mulligan explains how Girls Love Mail came to be:
“Letters are sacred mementos we lovingly save in decorative boxes. Yet the gentle beauty of a hand-written letter seems hidden in our age of text messages and emails. …However, not until I was diagnosed with breast cancer did I understand that a few words on paper were more than just a keepsake. A hand-written letter is a gift with the ultimate power to heal.
“Having just turned 40 and in the throes of writing my novel, being told I had breast cancer was a shock. But it wasn’t the day of my diagnosis that changed my life. The true change came a few weeks later when I started receiving well wishes. The letters said I was already a hero without telling me I needed to try a special diet or exercise plan. I was touched by the letters and began wondering if other breast cancer patients were receiving this special form of support. After I won my battle with breast cancer, I knew just what I had to do.”
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With such little effort can a letter be written, and with such gratitude can it be read.
“Starting Girls Love Mail was one of those AHA moments. Anyone with a desire to encourage a woman can write a letter. Letter writers of all ages and from across the country are joining us. I hope you will too! All it takes is a little of your time and the cost of a stamp. I know what receiving letters meant to me. I encourage you to give it a try and see how much writing one will mean to you,” says Mulligan.
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Girls Love Mail is an organization made from anyone and everyone. Words are meaningful, whether they come from the mouth of a 12-year-old, a grandmother, a neighbor, or, in this case, most importantly, a stranger.
Please send letters to:
Girls Love Mail
193 Blue Ravine Raod, Suite 120
Folsom, California 95630