I've been meaning to do this for quite a while. No more excuses; it is time to JUST DO IT!
Thanks for the opportunity, Matt!

I suppose in my feeling like now is the worst time to do it now might actually be the best time? I remember what it's like to feel like more of a survivor than I do right now... OK, I'll try.

*hugs*

Finally finished my letter and about to toss it in the mail. Don't forget peeps the deadline is Saturday!

saturday?! But mine wont reach US by then :(

can't wait to start this when i'm back from disneyland!!!

thanks jicrober, for your kind reply to my words... :)

That said, I am sort of working on this too. I am struggling because mine doesn't have the 'feel' I want it to have. It is like...if this is the ONE chance I have to say just the right thing to someone who is hurting, what would that be?

It isn't about perfection...although I am sort of a detail person (sort of heck...I am sort of obsessed with detail, duh). To me...it is...there is someone out there who is hurt...or who will be. That hurt brings on the darkest of dark...the absence of light to their life. How do I write the words that will give the light back to them...even incrementally...how can I share the light all of you have given me. That is where my light has come from...not exclusively...God shines in my life. But, God gifted me with all of you...how do I say that kind of thing to a stranger harmed beyond what was ever imagined by them?

That is what I hope to be able to do...and it is taking me some time.

You said it perfectly. I had a hard time writing my letter too, without it rambling for for pages and pages to make sure that EVERYTHING I wanted to say was included. I had to stick with the highlights and that is really hard. I am a very sympathetic person. It's not necessarily good. I prefer to be empathetic because I can get way to invested sometimes and I can get hurt more than what is good/healthy for situations I can't control. It's gotten way better since I've worked in a hospital and been a nurse. I think I had to learn how and practice, but I still have the tendency, especially with fellow survivors. I want to help them so much and do whatever I can,and having to cut corners in a very special letter was difficult. On one hand, it really shed light on something.

This process is SO about community. It's gonna take a book full of letters for one person to really understand that "we all" get what she/he is going through. We all say we "get it" with each other, and we do. We just get it in different ways sometimes because our experiences were different and our healing is different. This isn't any light bulb moment, I've realized this for a while, but i think this exercise has made it more obvious. I'm sure for every survivor who reads this book, there will be one or two letters in there that they can identify with more, and every survivor is going to have two different letters.

I find comfort in this because I know I can't say everything I want to say to a survivor in one letter without it being a book. That is what RAR is for. Matt did it already. That's the meat and potatoes. But I know that we all understand each other so well... we all "get it" enough that the blanks I left I know will be filled in by others, and collectively this book is going to be someone's saving grace. This is my opinion, but it's what helped me kinda let go of the almost "incompleteness' of what I felt when I finally decided my letter was finished. What I wrote, I wrote as such a special time (on the plane on the way back from OKC). I didn't want to leave that out, because EVERY word was important to me. I couldn't say everything, but what I did say was 100% authentic and from me. I'm trusting my sisters will fill in the rest. Maybe this will help you Leitha in feeling such a weight on your shoulders. :)

PS- The want you have to make it perfect and detail oriented to help someone is one of the biggest reasons I love you, lol!!!!

I wrote mine with the intent on sharing those things that were most important to ME. That is what put the sincerity and passion into the writing. I envisioned the overall goal as a book of letters which would collectively say most of the things we would have liked to have known. Those things could not fit into just one letter and the individual expression also makes it more human. From reading the letters in RAR, some of them did not resonate with me on a personal level with respect to my own situation, but that those individuals shared their personal struggles was to me encouraging and uplifting.

I've received about 8 letters so far. Seven were fantastic, but whoever of you sent the one with clip art from http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/ is just sick and needs help NOW.

;)

One making it's way across pond from tomorrow :) I looked at pricing and delivery (apparently paying lots of money doesn't allow my letter to arrive that much sooner..a day later..damn air mail) mine should arrive Monday or Tuesday but I've put return address on it if there is a problem.

If I email you a copy of final draft can that be my on time submission? =D

I have a scanner...so i can send you a proper copy of handwriting version!

Oh, crap!! I haven't started my letter yet!!!
I'll get on it when I get home from work tonight. Can you say procrastinator?!?!

Don't fret! I'm being lenient on the deadline.

Ah you heard about Royal Mail and their famous mail times then :D Once the letters leave the UK they are fine. My angela shelton dvd got shipped to me super quick. So quick in fact I thought it was a prank!

And you guys write your addresses wierd =s Last week I spent quite a considerable amount of time (surprising because he is generally bright) explaining to US'er our address set up. You guys cram everything on as few lines as possible!