“Your notes were like a warm blanket around me,” she said to me. “Even though you couldn’t take away the pain or make the situation change, you were able to pull me to a happy place for a few minutes. You helped take my focus off the pain.”

Her heart was broken, and I felt helpless in the face of her suffering. What could I do? I wondered. How could I make her feel better?

Then I got an idea: fill her mailbox with notes and funny things to make her smile. A few days each week, I’d grab a note card, scribble a note saying she was on my mind and in my prayers, enclose a cartoon or photo I thought she’d like, and send it off.

“Sometimes,” she said, “just knowing that other people are thinking about you is comforting.”

Today, when we can communicate in so many paperless, effortless ways, why take the time to correspond the old-fashioned way?

Here’s why: The more convenient our communication has become, the more temporary it is. Although we can save an encouraging text or email, it’s not the same as holding a note or letter in our hands. In a way, the words in a letter are tangible, and if we keep it, we can reread it and be encouraged all over again.

When we open the mailbox and pull out a real envelope written with ink by a real person, it’s as if the envelope carries a sign, “I care. See inside.”

The other day I got a note from a new friend who encouraged me about my writing. I have already reread her words twice. It’s a good reminder to me to send out a few notes myself.

I’ve got a long list of friends and family who are going through difficult times or who have been on my mind for some other reason. And I’ve got a closet full of notecards just waiting to go.

The only question is, who should I write to first?

Is there someone you could encourage this week with a card or letter? You’ll be glad you did it. Let me know in the comments.

And if you need notecards, I’ve got you covered! Check out the Glimsen shop here. Right now, I’m especially partial to the Summer cards.