300+ Love Letters for Matthew (and a Reveal Party)!
In May, we collected love letters for Matthew— a 12 year old boy who has done a lot of growing up in the past year. With his older brother battling cancer, Matthew has been holding down the fort at home.
Nominated by his mom’s best friend, she wrote to us, “He and his brother are best friends. With COVID restrictions, Matthew is not allowed to visit his brother at the hospital. It is hard to be apart for so long and when his brother is home, he often does not feel well enough to do things with Matthew. Matthew will go sit in his older brother's room to just keep him company. He has taken to sleeping on a small mattress on the floor in his brother’s room just be with him when he is home.”
Well… let’s just say this community of letter writers showed up BIG-TIME.
Debra wrote to us, “First, THANK YOU so very much for this awe-inspiring passion you created to bring joy and encouragement to others who are needing a helping hand. We were overwhelmed by the number of letters, packages and gifts sent from all around the world to cheer "Matthew" in May. It also touched our hearts to see how many were written by young people too and they included original artwork, stickers, posters and thoughtful words of encouragement.”
On Sunday, June 12, Matthew and his family arrived home under the expectation that it was a "School Year-End Party.” Secretly, Matthew's mom had invited some of Matthew and his brother's friends to attend. After dinner the boys went for a walk in the nearby park while we arranged a Love Letter poster, packages, letters, and strawberry shortcake as a surprise when they returned.
Matthew received more than 300 letters, 25 packages, and 5 letters from around the world including....(drum roll)...Italy, Ireland, Germany, New Zealand, Canada, and the Philippines. Wow!
Thank You seems like such a minimal way to express our heartfelt appreciation but I'm not sure how else we can do this. The weeks ahead will be especially challenging for Matthew and I'm certain that he and his family will feel great encouraged by this outpouring of love through letters.”