The B Team Standard

Caregiving Idea #6: Hand Written Notes

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I don’t have many friends my age who bother to send hand-written notes anymore. Does Gen-Z write notes? (Feel free to write me if you know the answer.) People mostly depend on digital connection — which is fine, for the everyday. But once in a while, taking the time to write a few lines or a card or a piece of nice stationary is still a lovely gesture. Like hosting, it sends the implicit message: I care about you so much I took the time to sit down and write this note. And buy a stamp. And find a post office.

There are the usual card-giving holidays: birthdays, anniversaries, graduation, etc. But I think focusing on the unusual days make a note even more special.

· Send a note at the end of a big project to acknowledge all the time and work that went into it. For example, send a note to a colleague who finished a big work project.

· Send a note at the beginning of a big project to say — this will be hard, I know, and I’ll be thinking of you. Like a someone going back to school, or a friend who needs to find assisted living for a parent.

· Send a note just to say — I like you; I miss you; I’m thinking about you.

I still have letters my grandmother sent me when I went to camp as a kid. I have notes my parents wrote when I was in Peace Corps. My friend Caitlin has sent me such pretty postcards, several of them have found their way into little frames and decorate my bookshelves.

Click here for Idea #7: Cognitive Labor