What to write to your grandparents when nothing big has happened

You open a blank letter, think back over the month, and come up with groceries. Work. The same show you were watching last time. What are you supposed to do with that?

Choose one day. Your grandparents may have heard that you're doing fine, but they probably haven't heard about the dinner that took twice as long as the recipe promised or the basil you've started checking every morning.

Begin with yesterday

Think about where you went and who you saw. Was there a moment you wanted to tell someone about? Start with that, even if the entire story happened in the checkout line.

"I thought of you this week when..." can help if the first sentence is holding you up. Another opening is "You'd have laughed if you'd seen..." Fill it in with something that happened to you, then keep going in the words you'd use on a call.

Let one detail lead somewhere

A little update can bring a memory with it. Say you planted basil. You could write about keeping it alive, then ask about the tomatoes you used to pick from your grandparent's garden when you visited in summer.

Here's a fictional example:

"I bought a pot of basil on Saturday, and now I check it before I've even made coffee. We'll see how long it lasts. I keep remembering how you sent me out to pick tomatoes for lunch and I came back with half of them eaten. What are you growing this year?"

That could be most of a letter. If another story comes to mind, add it in a new paragraph. You can also finish with a question about something they mentioned the last time you talked.

Read it aloud before sending

Use the name you call them. "Dear Grandmother" will sound strange if you've said "Hi Nana" your whole life, and a sign-off borrowed from a business email may feel strange too.

When a sentence trips you up, try saying the thought without looking at the draft. Write that version down. Leave the funny wording alone if it's how you would tell the story.

With MailedIt, you can write the letter yourself or start with a few notes and get help with a draft. Edit it until you're happy with it, then review and approve it for printing and mailing. A few paragraphs about your Saturday are a place to begin.

Examples in this guide are fictional.