My grandmother, Caroline Butler Drinkard, died this past Monday.  She was 88 years old.

She was quirky, artistic and a total ham— not the usual characteristics of a devoted Methodist preacher’s wife for more than half a decade.  Above all else, however, she was faithful.  She was faithful to her God, her family and to the United States Post Office.  That’s right, the post office. While our Pop’s ministry could be felt from the pulpit, Nana’s ministry was felt every time we opened up an envelope.

At least once a week, I received a letter from Nana in the mail.  Sometimes it contained a newspaper clipping about an upcoming play she thought I should go see.  Sometimes it was a holiday card (she sent cards for every holiday imaginable).  Sometimes Nana’s card would have a dollar bill taped inside with a note at the bottom saying, “Use this dollar to buy yourself a coke.”  In later years, she always said she felt guilty sending cash in the mail because folks at the post office warned her that it could be stolen.  She sent it anyway.

I wasn’t the only one that received letters from Nana.  She sent Valentine’s Day cards to my college roomates (whom she had never even met).  She sent letters to women she befriended at a church Pop preached at forty years ago.  She sent them to the little boy who lived across the street from us.  She sent them to my boyfriend.  She sent them to whomever was on her heart.  She sent her love by mail.

So that is the mission of this blog: to carry Nana’s ministry into the 21st century.  My hope is that this blog encourages you to write to not only the ones that you love in an obvious way, but also to the random acquantainces you have that may need a note that tells them someone cares.

If you’ve been lucky enough to receive mail from Caroline Drinkard before, consider this another one to add to your stack.  If not, welcome to a mailbox full of blessings. And because this is Nana’s ministry, and not my own, I will give her the credit.  I may have typed these words, but she was the inspiration.  So I’ll end this with her signature sign off:

Love, Nana

xoxo