Every week, Linda Bremner sends a thousand letters to children she doesn't even
know. Some parents might not like their children getting letters from a
stranger. But not these moms and dads. They write back to thank her-and so do
the parents. Linda's letters give their kids hope, keep them alive a little
longer, or just brighten their days when they see the postal carrier coming up
the walk with the day's mail.
That's how it started-with the daily mail. In November 1980, Linda's
eight-year-old son, Andy, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. After he
returned home from his first hospital stay, he was welcomed with dozens of cards
and letters from friends and relatives. "No matter how bad he felt before the
mailman arrived," Linda remembered, "he always felt better afterward."
Inevitably, however, the flood of cards and letters tapered off. So did Andy's
cheerful spirit. Concerned, Linda mailed him a note she wrote herself and signed
it "Your secret pal." Andy perked up. After that, Linda never let a day go by
without putting another cheerful message in the mail for her little boy.
After sending Andy letters for nearly a month, Linda found him one day drawing a
picture of two unicorns. It was for his "secret pal," he said. After putting
Andy to bed that night, Linda picked up the drawing. At the bottom, he had
written "P.S. Mom, I love you."
He had known all along who was sending him the letters! But that didn't
matter-what mattered was that they made him happy and lifted his spirits. Andy's
precious life ended less than four years later; he died on August 31, 1984.
"Although I had two other wonderful children," Linda remembered, "the grief and
pain of losing Andy was unbearable. I felt my life was over because his was
over." Sorting through her son's belongings, she found a shoebox in his closet.
Inside the box was his address book listing all the friends he'd made at a
"cancer camp" not long before he died. The address book gave Linda the idea that
Andy would have liked her to be a "secret pal" to his sick friends the way she'd
been to him.
She decided to send one card to each child in Andy's book. Before she'd gotten
through the list, one twelve-year-old boy wrote to thank her. In his letter he
told her, "I didn't think any one knew I was alive." Those words made Linda
realize someone else was hurting besides herself. She cried bitterly, not for
herself or for Andy this time, but for the lonely, scared child who needed to
know someone cared.
Just after responding to that boy's letter, she received a similar note from
another child on Andy's list. That was it. She had found her calling, a purpose
that gave passion and meaning to her life. She vowed then to write to any child
who needed her until they stopped writing her back.
Her cards and letters were brief, positive, and always personalized. The
children responded continually and their parents did too, each thanking her for
renewing life in their child. Linda got friends and neighbors to help with her
mission, and an organization of fetter writers began to form. They named their
new group Love Letters, Inc.
Together, Linda and her small band of volunteers worked tirelessly to help
children beat the odds. Yet Love Letters soon discovered a myriad of challenges
they were forced to overcome. The demand for their services was great and yet
their resources were small. No mailing was complete without concern for where
the money for postage or production work would come from. Working out of a
temporary, donated space, the group survived from week to week on donations of
stamps, money, and office supplies from the community and groups like the Rotary
Club and Junior Chamber of Commerce.
Love Letters applied to more than forty corporations for grants and donations.
Every application was turned down. Yet Love Letters never missed a mailing. The
children meant too much to Linda and her thirty-five volunteers. Somehow people
always came through-with a hake sale, a T-shirt sale, or just by reaching into
their pockets.
Today, over ten years after Linda wrote her first letter to a child she'd never
met, Love Letters, Inc., sends out more than 60,000 pieces of mail a year. The
group's resources are still inadequate, but their resolve abounds. Thirty-five
volunteers collectively contribute 400 hours for each weekly mailing. In
addition to sending letters to 1,100 kids every week, it sends an additional 90
to 110 birthday gifts each month. For children going through a particularly
difficult period, Love Letters makes sure something arrives in the mail every
single day. Every year, Love Letters loses some 200 children who have gotten
better or passed away. Sadly, Love Letters always has new names to add to its
mailing list.
Linda personally puts in seventy to eighty hours a week to keep Love Letters
going. When weariness threatens to overcome her, the telephone rings-it's
another child or parent calling to say how important the program is.
"It rejuvenates me," she said, "because I have experienced firsthand the power
of a love letter in healing the soul."
As much as she gives, Linda Bremner receives more in return: a reason for
living, a vehicle for loving, a sense of purpose.
"I'm doing what I am doing for the rest of my life because it's so important.
I've seen a child cry and I've seen a child smile. I like the smiles, and it's
really important to me to know that I helped make one." -Linda Bremner
Excerpted from Unstoppable, p, 9-12 (Sourcebooks, $14.95) Copyright 1998 by
Cynthia Kersey www.unstoppable.net
Sharing this Unstoppable Story: Feel free to share this message with others, but
please keep it in its entirety including the copyright notice and all
information above the copyright notice.
Cynthia Kersey is a nationally-known speaker, columnist and author of the
bestseller, "Unstoppable" and upcoming sequel "Unstoppable Women". Cynthia
captivates audiences by delivering presentations on how to be unstoppable in
their business and life pursuits. To learn more about receiving a FREE daily
Unstoppable Insight, joining the FREE "Unstoppable Community" or bringing
Cynthia to your next meeting, visit
www.unstoppable.net .
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
messages. HTML and plain text versions available.
The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.