Dear Sister Ellen

I love getting and sending handwritten notes. I think it’s increasingly becoming a lost art. Perhaps not Hallmark cards, but letters on loose leaf or stationery letters from the heart — are not a commonplace.

There were no letters as good as Sr. Ellen Doyle’s letters. When she published her book, Dear Uncle Stanley a few years ago — an effort that took her more than 25 years to complete — we all understood where she honed her craft. Beginning as a young adult and for almost two decades, she exchanged letters with her uncle, a priest who helped to shape her vocation and form her heart for what would become an incredible legacy of service to the Church. Her book included a curated collection of exquisite correspondence between two relatives who shared wisdom and a love for the Lord that left the reader grateful for (or wanting to have!) a relationship like theirs.

Ellen’s notes to me weren’t always long. They were often silly or simply a quote, image, or word that was in her prayer for me that day. She sent an Advent calendar for my children in the winter and bubbles in the summer. All her words and gifts reflected how deeply she listened to others and how faithfully she listened to the Lord. Even during the last year and a half of her illness with cancer, her letters continued, including regular updates on her journey to all who were praying for her. Not a word was wasted, and the wisdom that drew us all in only grew as she drew closer to going home to God.

Ellen went home to God on Friday, July 18^th. Her last letter to me was a gift from Uncle Stanley that she was, in turn, gifting to me. As I stared at that treasure along with over 20 years’ worth of treasures I had kept from her in stuffed in envelopes, I wondered if the words I share with those I love and lead communicate the same wisdom surrounded in care as the words of Dear Uncle Stanley and Dear Sister Ellen? How intentional am I with the simplest gestures that can make the most profound difference in helping someone feel seen, heard, and loved? Regardless of the word count: will the words count?

Dear Sister Ellen, may you rest in the peace of your Lord, in communion with the saints proper and the saints named Stanley. And may we all, whether by pen or with texts, gifts, or embrace, write letters like yours from our hearts.