Keeping the Family in Touch

As our six children grew to adulthood and began leaving home, our challenge as parents was to find a way to maintain the feelings of family love and unity that had developed over the years. We’ve tried a variety of things, including a round-robin newsletter in which each family member attached an updated letter to a circulating packet of letters received in the mail and then forwarded the packet to the next family member in line. Unfortunately, it took Mr. Robin months to wing his way around the family loop.

One day we hit on a new idea that has worked well for us. We call our new method the “radiating robin.” Here’s how it works:

On a given day each month (we’ve selected fast Sunday), all family members write a letter of general interest and send it home to Mom and Dad. We photocopy each letter and mail copies of the combined letters to each family, often within a week. In this way, fresh news “radiates” from home and family members stay in touch. Sometimes photographs, articles, and cartoons of common interest are sent along, and the grandchildren often send a drawing they’ve done or a page from a coloring book. Before mailing the packets, we also tuck in a sticker to place on a calendar as a reminder to write next month.

Now our family stays in touch, and we have a record of our activities that can be kept as part of our own family history.—David Jackson, Blue Springs, Missouri