Daily printout: Jan. 19, 2024

Amy Weinland Daughters was scrolling through Facebook in 2014 when she decided to look up a friend from her youth, Dana Dugas Rivera.

“I started doing a deeper dive,” Daughters said.

She discovered that Rivera’s young son, Parker, was battling cancer. The two women caught up through Facebook messages, then Daughters began mailing letters and cards to Rivera and Parker in Memphis, TN, where the mom and son were staying while he received treatment.

Writing to Rivera — and receiving letters from her friend in return — inspired Daughters to contact more people. She eventually decided to write a letter to each of her 580 Facebook friends.

“I started writing daily, and each new letter was an adrenaline rush,” she said.

It took about 18 months to complete the task, which Daughters described as a kind of “social experiment.” About 70 percent of the people she wrote to responded, either through handwritten letters or Facebook messages.

“People were touched that I took the time and effort to sit down and write to them,” she said. “I found it was bringing the best out of other people — and myself the most.”

Daughters eventually wrote about the letter-writing experience in a book, “Dear Dana: That Time I Went Crazy and Wrote All 580 of My Facebook Friends a Handwritten Letter,” published in 2022.

The success of her letter-writing experiment has inspired Daughters to embark on a similar project: mailing birthday cards to more than 600 friends.

She now averages almost 17 cards a week, which makes the resident of Tomball, TX — a Houston suburb — a regular at her local Post Office and frequent customer of the online Postal Store.

“The Postal Service is made up of unsung heroes who deliver mail and a greater connection,” she said. “I’m such a huge fan of USPS and its legion of workers that make this magic happen. It’s the vehicle by which I have reestablished so many relationships.”

Daughters, a freelance writer and sports blogger, has also become a public speaker about the power of letter writing.

“My intention in all of this is to share this amazing story I’ve been gifted with and to get people to write letters,” she said.

The Postal Service released its latest Love stamp last week, continuing a tradition that began more than 50 years ago.

The first Love stamp was introduced in 1973 and billed as a “Special Stamp for Someone Special.” It featured artist Robert Indiana’s iconic 1960s Love design, which he previously rendered as a painting and a sculpture.

The stamp was supposed to be a one-off — but eventually proved popular enough for a series.

It was nine years before the second stamp was issued, and the concept gained traction. A new stamp has been issued annually since 2004.

Through the years, common themes have emerged.

The word “love” is predominant in a majority of the stamps, spelled out in big block letters or flowy cursive — even skywriting, in the 2017 stamp.

Hearts are also abundant. Sometimes a heart is formed by the negative space in the design, as in the 1997 swans stamps.

Birds have appeared on multiple Love stamps.

Doves, bluebirds and, of course, lovebirds have been depicted. They are known to form mating pairs for life, making them ideal symbols of love and faithfulness. This year’s stamp shows a heart-sealed envelope delivered by a bird in flight.

Flowers are portrayed on many Love stamps, too.

Red roses are the iconic symbol of romantic love. Pink roses express appreciation and admiration. Purple pansies, featured in the 2010 stamp, represent affection. The word “pansy” is rooted in the French word “pensée,” referring to a thought.

And of course, the theme that runs through all the Love stamps is love and affection.

While Love stamps are released in time for Valentine’s Day, as USPS points out each year, they can be used to deliver love for any reason, in any season.