Tag Archives: handwritten letters

Day 104: Anonymous letter left in DC Starbucks

Posted on April 15, 2015 | 1 comment
Writing my letter at Starbucks.

Writing my letter at Starbucks.

April 15th means it’s the deadline to file your taxes. Well, not really. You can file for an extension. Anyway, it is understandable that today could be a bit depressing as you think about how much money you are handing over to the government so I thought I would try to do something nice for a stranger.

I left this letter at the Starbucks at the corner of 22nd and K Street in Washington DC. Inside I tried something different – I put a $5 gift card. It’s not much, but perhaps it will lift their spirits if they’re having a bad day.

I added the quote by Paula Poundstone – I thought it was funny and I met her a few years ago. She was great. I hope that starting out my note with “The wages of sin” doesn’t scare away the person who finds this by causing them to think that I’m some nut lurking across the Starbucks who is going to come up to them later and start preaching to them.

Day 104 anonymous

“The wages of sin are death, but by the time taxes are taken out, it’s just sort of a tired feeling.” – Paula Poundstone

 

Hopefully you’re not feeling too tired today…but in case you are, have some coffee on me. As we “celebrate” tax day – I hope this small letter and gift will help make your day a happy one.

Enjoy!

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Day 103: Danielle, Glen’s Garden Market

Posted on April 14, 2015 | Leave a comment
Cheers to Glen's on their 2nd Anniversary!

Cheers to Glen’s on their 2nd Anniversary!

Two years ago today Glen’s Garden Market opened up in my neighborhood. The space was the previous home of the “Secret Safeway” – named for the fact that it was tucked away and nobody knew it was there. Two years later Glen’s seems to have been here for decades. Strange.

Danielle, who hails from a family of grocers, left her job on Capitol Hill doing environmental policy work, to open a market that focuses on products sourced from within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. It’s a big change from the halls of congress – but here Danielle gets to play a pivotal role in changing consumer behavior at dining room table.

I’m thrilled to share today’s letter with Danielle which I wrote here at Glen’s last night – happy two-year anniversary neighbor!

Day 103 Danielle

Dear Danielle,

Congratulations on your second anniversary. As someone who lives just two blocks away I was extremely happy when Glen’s came to the neighborhood. It’s only been two years but Glen’s seems like it’s been there forever. It doesn’t seem to matter when I stop in there is always a healthy amount of customers either shopping for fresh produce from local farms, enjoying a cup of coffee or delicious pint of local beer (love that they’re $4!) or picking up one of your mouth-watering sandwiches – I usually get the Billy’s Bison.

Day 103 Danielle-2I hope I can join you on Saturday – I see you’ll be celebrating your anniversary and Earth Day – I’ll toast to that!

Cheers,
Reed Sandridge

P.S. I also very much appreciated your support of Street Sense in our 2013 Gala – you were very generous. Thanks again.

 

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Day 102: Mr. Kraemer

Posted on April 13, 2015 | Leave a comment
Poor guy - we made Daniel take a picture with my friend Amy.

Poor guy – we made Daniel take a picture with my friend Amy.

All too often we only reach out to restaurants, hotels and other service oriented businesses when we are disappointed with the experience. But today’s letter is all about letting a local business know that their employee was phenomenal. If you go to Cafe Dupont for dinner, I highly recommend requesting Daniel as your waiter.

Bon appetit!

Day 102 Silvan

Mr. Kraemer,

What a wonderful experience we had at Cafe Dupont on April 5th. Our server, Daniel, was excellent – his ability to be knowledgeable while balancing professionalism and wit made it most enjoyable. I wanted you to know but please also share my compliments with Daniel and his supervisor.

Best regards,
Reed Sandridge

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Sunday Notes & Letters for Week 16

Posted on April 12, 2015 | Leave a comment

Yesterday I celebrated my 100th handwritten letter of the year. I use the term “celebrated” loosely – I had a small pour of bourbon and reflected on the past 100 days. Realizing that it had been almost two months since I updated the statistics page, I sat down and tallied the numbers on my letter-writing journey so far.

This is a very nice bourbon that my boss gave to me.

This is a very nice bourbon that my boss gave to me.

I’m averaging about one handwritten response for every ten letters I send out. While that sounds low, it’s a vast improvement over the numbers I reported earlier this year. One out of three letters I am sending out is acknowledged in some way – either by email, Facebook, a phone call or tweet. Friends and family make up about 34% of the recipients while celebrities and known individuals account for 20%.

I’ve been surprised about some of the people I have not heard back from. Usually when you write to someone holding a public office, you get a response. I didn’t receive even a standard form letter back from Muriel Bowser, our city’s new mayor. Equally silent were the CEO of Trader Joe’s, the folks at FitBit, the U.S. Postmaster General, Lazlo Toth and Teddy. That’s ok – I’ve received some very nice responses and even a handful of letters from people I’ve never met but who found inspiration in the blog to start writing more.

Speaking of inspiration – this beautiful weather is inspiring me to get outside. Enjoy your Sunday.

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Day 100: Dr. Wareham

Posted on April 11, 2015 | 1 comment

I made it to Day 100!

I wanted to find someone special to send my letter to today – and I found someone! Meet Dr. Wareham: a centenarian from Loma Linda, CA who up to five years ago was still working. And while he retired as a cardiothoracic surgeon at 74, he continued working and teaching until five years ago.

Check out this report from Dr. Sanjay Gupta – his story promises to inspire you!

Here’s to 265 more handwritten letters and long lives for all of us.

Day 100

Dear Dr. Wareham,

I hope my letter finds you and Mrs. Wareham doing well. Your story featured by Dr. Sanjay Gupta inspired me to write you a letter. I have a commitment to write a handwritten letter every day for a year and today is day 100. As I celebrate 100 handwritten letters this year I can’t think of anyone else better to share this moment with than someone who is 100 and is living life to the fullest. 

I've been embossing the letter numbers on some of the envelopes.

I’ve been embossing the letter numbers on some of the envelopes.

Your story was particularly moving for me because of your lifelong work as a cardiothoracic surgeon. My mother suffered three heart attacks, the first of which she had at the age of 40. She died in 2006 at the age of 63. I’m 41 now and know that this family history doesn’t bode well for me and my risk of developing coronary artery disease is considerably higher.

Your blood cholesterol of 117 is phenomenal and encourages me to continue working at improving my health. You’ve inspired me to reduce my meat consumption even further – maybe even eliminate it all together.

If you have any specific advice for me or suggestions of resources to help me improve my health, I’d love to hear from you. 

With deep admiration and respect,
Reed Sandridge

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