The idea behind 100 Handwritten Notes

Herb, Jennifer, Cindy, and Bonnie Phillips

My sister Jennifer died suddenly of Diabetes on December 18, 2012.  She was barely 37 years old.

Jennifer had a really difficult life.  She was diagnosed with Turner's syndrome when she was really young.  Turner's syndrome girls develop many health problems, and Jennifer had a lot of health problems in her short life.  She often felt really sad that she had so many health problems and felt like she was dealt a really bad deck of cards.

Despite that, one of Jennifer's greatest pleasures was to buy, write, and send greeting cards to people she knew.  She sent them for every life event: birthdays, anniversaries, religious days, and "just because."  She was really old-fashioned this way.

When Jennifer died, people came out of the woodworks to say what a beautiful soul she was, and how she would often be the only one to commemorate an event with a card, and how much it meant for those people to receive them.

As her sister, I didn't really appreciate receiving her cards.  It used to feel like it wasn't even a day that went by before I received a thank-you note to a gift I had purchased her; "I'm your sister!  You don't have to send me a thank-you card!!" I would scoff.  Of course, I'm sure she was incensed that I never sent her any.

After Jen died, my father said, "you're going to want to see this."  It was a thank-you note to me, from her, for bringing her shrimp and calling her after she was in a car accident.  She didn't have the time to mail it, but it still found its way into my hands, post-mortem.

I treasure that card so much.

In her memory, I am going to send 100 Handwritten Notes in 100 days to people who want them.

My handwriting is awful.
I'm a leftie so the pen always smudges.
It doesn't matter.

Jennifer, I miss you and think of you every day.  This is for you.