Letters
to Heaven
photographs by Jemma Louise
The idea was inspired by a nine-year-old girl who wanted to write to her grandparents after they had died.
Other councils which have adopted this idea collect the letters, turn them to pulp and mix them with wild flower seeds. The resulting mixture is then planted in the cemetery.
Ahh the poor mourning grandchildren. Their loving letters should be put safely in files and the wild flower seeds can come from other sources.
ReplyDeleteI agree.
DeleteI agree with the comment above. It feels wrong to pulp letters such as these, which are no doubt written with love and care.
ReplyDeleteQuite so.
DeleteI like the idea but there wasn't much foresight with using ER and there doesn't seem to be an easy way to change it to CR.
ReplyDeleteI wondered about that, too. Maybe the new ciphers aren't ready yet.
ReplyDeleteNot sure about that - what else would you do with them? The writers aren't expecting a reply, and probably don't want (or expect) the letters back, so why not make them part of a remembrance garden. At least it is not burned, or dumped in the recycling.
ReplyDeleteThey'd be quite concerned if they received a reply!
ReplyDeleteI wondered if there might be a way to conserve them for later generations to read - you know, in a 'Death in the 21st century' sort of way.
They would need to be sealed up in a time capsule. We would regard them as way too personal to be made publicly available in the lifetimes of the people who wrote them. (Copyright and all that comes into it too - copyright on writing not composed for publication is very very very long).
ReplyDeleteIsn't ir something like 50 years after the death of the writer?
ReplyDeleteThe post box is a lovely idea, not so much turning the letters into pulp ... xxx
ReplyDeleteIt's a conundrum.
DeleteAs the letter writers have a reasonable expectation of privacy, I think shredding them and usjng them as a base for nature's work is a very good way to dispose of them - better to be useful after shredding than go to a recycle facility.
ReplyDeleteOn balance, I'm coming to the same conclusion.
DeleteWhat a fabulous idea.
ReplyDeleteIt's created a discussion, certainly :-0
DeleteI agree with Tigger, let the letters become part of the flower beds. To keep them all would eventually require far too much space.
ReplyDeleteDo you think the idea will catch on? I wonder . . .
DeleteAnything that gives comfort at such a time is a Good Thing in my book.
ReplyDeleteVery true.
DeleteThey could do both. Retain a sampling in the archives for future historians and mulch the rest. Either way, it's a very nice way to help children grieve.
ReplyDeleteThat's a neat compromise.
ReplyDelete