WriteSeniors

JennaGlatzer

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Well, it's sort of a prompt!

This is from this week's letter from the editor in the Absolute Write Newsletter (coming your way today):

Remember I said a few weeks ago that I was going to try to find some things we can do as Absolute Write writers to help others? Well, here’s the first one:

http://www.writeseniors.com/

That’s a website for senior citizens looking for pen pals. It was started in 1999 by two teenagers as a community outreach program; the teens used to visit retirement homes and play piano for the residents, and realized that so many of them were lonely and didn’t want the teens to leave. So they took initiative and set out to honor seniors by helping them make connections with people, both in person and through e-mails.

Some of the seniors you’ll find profiled on the site do live in nursing homes or other facilities, but it appears that most live in their own homes or with family. They’re from all over the world. On this page, you can search for pen pals by country, birth month or year, or use keyword searches to find someone with interests similar to yours: http://www.writeseniors.com/penpals/ . You can also check out their newest members or “spotlight members.”

Who better to be a pen pal than a writer? I hope that you’ll choose to share your talent with someone who’d really like a new friend. Loneliness is pretty lousy, and I know how many good-hearted members we have here who might just be interested in making some new friends, too.


If you decide to do this, I’d love to hear about it...
 

gentlespirit512

writeseniors.com

This is such a GREAT idea! I was just writing an article about using your talents, even writing, to help other people. I checked my e-mail, and there was your message about using writing to help other people! I will do this if I can. The website wasn't accepting new members when I looked at it, so I'll try again later!

Thanks for sharing this!
 

JennaGlatzer

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Thanks, gentle! They may not be accepting new seniors who want pen pals right now, but you don't have to sign up to become a pen pal... you just look through the profiles and pick someone who you'd like to write to. Their e-mail addresses are on top of the profiles.
 

Viki Posidis

great idea

This is a terrific idea! I've already checked out the site and preparing to find my golden oldie!

Thanks Jenna!

Cheers,

Viki Posidis
Author
The Step-mom Diaries
www.steppingbeyond.net
 

September skies

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Jenna, you're a sweetheart. What a wonderful thing. My heart always goes out to the elderly, especially shut-ins. This is so thoughtful and sweet. I'm so glad you posted this.

(edit: There's so many there - how can I choose just a couple? I haven't finished going through the site yet but I was wondering if there's a way of finding someone with no pen pal yet. That way one person does not end up with five pen pals while others have none.)
 
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September skies

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smile.gif
I just wrote to a senior and she sounds so interesting, I am so looking forward to hearing from her.

As I read her bio, I smiled constantly and could relate to what she was saying about giving up television to just surf the internet (ever since joining AW - I've given up playing solitaire and spider solitaire on my free time.)
thanks again Jenna, this is such an awesome feeling.

edit: I just got the email back as undeliverable. *sigh*
 
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Caroline

Write Seniors

So I took Jenna's idea and gave it a whirl, searched for Pen Pals in South Africa because that is where I am from and wrote to a few golden girls. I have had a lovely response from a fellow writer, which is so exciting!
 
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Paint

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I gave this website to my mom and she really liked it. She just wanted to write somebody. I guess she is afraid of this forum because she won't take off with it. She is a writer too. Anyway, she went with this one and happily downloaded recipies all one afternoon.
 

eldragon

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Thanks for the information!


I just sent emails to two people! One is just down the street, about 10 miles from here and the other is about 40 miles away.

I already volunteer at a nursing home, and love talking to seniors.

Pam