Photo: LaSu1923 | Pixabay
For the past nine years, George Dowling has dreaded December – once his favorite month. Since losing his wife in 2013, Christmas is a trying time. His late wife, Lucille, lived for the holiday season. She died on December 1, 2013, after battling Alzheimer's. That year, Dowling and his daughter, Suzan Brito, took down the tree and canceled Christmas. The following year, as December approached, Brito brainstormed ways to cheer up her father, whose grief was all-consuming. "Dad loves getting mail. I thought, maybe some Christmas cards would make him happy," said Brito. She called out to friends and family on Facebook, asking people to send her father a Christmas card. To her delight, they did. "That first year, he got about 30. It carried him through the whole month of December," Brito recounted. She decided to do it annually; every year, in late November, she posts a request on Facebook and includes their home address. Family, friends – as well as some strangers – send him heartfelt holiday wishes. In 2018, he received 102 letters. After a year where they only received 14 cards, Brito made an all-out effort on social media. This year, they received 10,000 cards in eight days and are averaging 2,000 per day. Reading the cards helps Dowling "keep his mind busy" and reminds him that "people are good."
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