Daughter asks people to send grieving dad a letter, but gets so much more
The power of social media is an amazing – it really does do wonderful things.
One man has had a rough few months – 92-year-old Gerard lost beloved wife Ellen and it has left him heartbroken.
Thankfully, his daughter Miriam decided to leap into action and cheer him up.
Gerard, who was married to Ellen for more than six decades, used to work as a Canada Post mailman.
ATTENTION FRIENDS: Since Mom died this past Spring, my 92 YO dad waits for mail every day. Listens for the squeak of the mail slot opening. His BDAY is Oct. Please mail a note, card, picture, map or story to
Gerard Dunn
96 Summerhill Avenue
Sydney, Nova Scotia
B1R 2L4Thank you.
— Miriam Dunn (@Miridunn) September 24, 2018
He has been delighted by the daily mail delivery since Ellen died, so bearing this in mind, Miriam took to Twitter to ask people to send her dad some letters for his birthday.
She wrote, ''ATTENTION FRIENDS: Since Mom died this past Spring, my 92 YO dad waits for mail every day. Listens for the squeak of the mail slot opening. His BDAY is Oct. Please mail a note, card, picture, map or story.''
What started as a few responses has since exploded in thousands of likes, retweets and comments.
Until she posted the request, herself and her siblings had been sending their father letters and clippings so that he had something to look forward to every day.
Our students have responded with kindness as I knew they would. Wishing your dad the best. We will be sure to send these to your address. pic.twitter.com/Ra0Wjq8Czh
— Jennifer Casa-Todd (@JCasaTodd) September 26, 2018
Miriam is overwhelmed with the reaction from people.
“Dad really does wait for the mail every day, so the last couple of months, the siblings have been trying to send him a card or a newspaper clipping. Something small just to have something arrive in the mail,” she said.
“I thought maybe I could get a few strangers on the Internet to send him something that would really please him. I anticipated five or 10 people would say, ‘I will do that,’ but I certainly did not anticipate this.”
People are promising letters, food, artworks, cards as well as teachers are planning to send photos of their students writing letters for Gerard – how sweet!
Miriam says that her dad is so he is grateful for the kindness that is being shown, and that it is all for his wife.
“My dad sees this as a tribute to mom, not to him,” Miriam said.
What an uplifting story – well done Miriam and happy birthday Gerard!