You’ve Got Mail

My mother is an avid letter writer. When politicians or organizations disappoint her, she voices her discontent with a personal letter to the offending party. Even her children have been known to receive such a missive! I am now officially a letter writer, too.

Maybe I’ve been a letter writer longer than I realized. Years ago, the Columbia Tribune featured a distasteful cartoon by John Darkow related to suicide. My letter to the editor appeared in the newspaper. In return, Mary Smith, aka Gam, and a kindred spirit, sent me a letter thanking me for speaking out.

Recently, I sent individual letters to three administrators at Boone Hospital expressing my disgust with the lack of empathy and care my dear friend Mary Wells experienced as she lay dying in the hospital. I methodically detailed Mary’s end-of-life experience, highlighting the various ways in which the hospital staff fell woefully short of attending to her physical and emotional needs. One administrator responded with a letter filled with platitudes, but devoid of any acknowledgment of the hospital’s failings. Worse yet, the response included misinformation and inaccuracies. Please do better.

Last week, I sent a letter to the Today show regarding their callous and insensitive interviews of the children who survived the school shooting in Minneapolis. I urged them to set a higher standard for media coverage of such events. I stopped short of suggesting NBC pay for the mental health counseling those children will need in the weeks, months, and years to come. Please do better.

On a brighter note, my friends Rick and Jessie have begun a weekly tradition of sending cards to their friends and family who have brought joy to their lives. I am proud to say I am the recipient of one such acknowledgement. I’m thinking about implementing a similar practice – it’s called balance.