When I was in college wishing
I was home instead of at school,
Mom used to write notes to let me
know how much she loved me and
to reassure me that I’d be okay.

And Dad used to send postcards home
whenever he traveled for work, letting me
know he was thinking of me even when
he was hundreds of miles away in
a foreign country.

When my daughter was young, I made lunches
for her to take to school—pb&j sandwiches
with three kinds of jelly — and hid notes
inside her lunch box so she’d know
how much I loved her.

And when my wife would leave home
on a business trip, I’d put a note in her suitcase
so when she arrived at her hotel and got ready
for bed, she’d find a note letting her know
how much I missed her.

And when my brother lived abroad for seven years,
I looked forward each day to the mail delivery hoping
to find one of the blue aerogrammes that he’d send me,
and for a few moments, as I read his words, I’d feel as if
he was sitting in the same room beside me.

All these notes—so many words of love over
so many years—prove that love isn’t bound
by time or distance, that words of kindness can lift
a lonely heart and create a bridge for us to cross
so we can embrace those we love.