The Story Behind It All

2023: I am 26 and holding on for dear life. I just so happened across an organization on social media that sent total stranger's letters of encouragement. These letters were handwritten and mailed to you several times throughout the year. ​ I received 20 + letters over the next few months. Each letter contained personalized messages of support, comfort, acknowledgement and hope... Just what I felt I didn't have. How in the world did a short paragraph, written by someone I didn't know, bring such optimism and light to my life? I still don't have the answer, but they did. The letters continued to arrive at times I needed them most. The words they chose to write resonated with me in ways they never had. ​

 

2024: A month before my 27th birthday, I mustered up enough belief that I, too, was deserving of a safe, sober and happy life.  I would have never made the decision to walk into that facility if I hadn't been made to feel like there was a glimmer of hope for my future. A few silly little letters had changed the entire trajectory of my life.​

 

2025: A hell of a few months later... I am now excited to celebrate my 28th birthday. I look forward to slow mornings; watching my backyard fill with critters coming to snack.... the sound of rain hitting the sidewalk leading up to my house, meeting new people through my art and so much more...​

 

The 26 Letters Project allows me to reach others in a way that I needed at the time, without even knowing it. I guess it's my ​small way of continuing to give others a glimmer of hope and support, like strangers did for me.​​​​​​​​

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Thanks for being here.