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Making a Once in a Lifetime Connection Through Email

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Thank you to Yahoo! Mail for sponsoring this post about staying connected. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

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Some connections through email simply can’t be fulling put into words. While I know this was a long post, my hope is by simply reading it you will be uplifted by the spirit of kindness and how the little things can really mean so much.

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Over a year ago I had the pleasure of reviewing and giving away a Hallmark Recordable Storybook of The Night Before Christmas. It was a brand new product at the time and extremely popular.

12/8/09

I am in desperate need of one of these (Hallmark) books for my sister.  She was recently diagnosed with lung cancer and is currently in treatment at Thompson Cancer Center in Knoxville TN and she has a 5 month old grandchild that she would like to record this for.  We have searched in Knoxville as well as Ft. Myers, FL and to no avail.  I looked on Amazon and they want 2 – 3 times what the books sold for at Hallmark and that is just a big ripoff.  If you could help me in any way I would really appreciate it.  Thank You, Della

At first I considered that perhaps this was a hoax. The books were certainly fetching a high price and this email could simply be trying to get a copy for free. However the amount of details and the mention of the higher prices on other sites made me think otherwise.  I took a chance and emailed my good friend Jon Gray at Fleishman to see if there was anything he could do.

12/9/09

Good news for you – though the “Night Before Christmas” Recordable Storybook is apparently now completely out of stock coast-to-coast, a contact at Hallmark HQ has one of the other varieties of the Recordable Storybook available. It is called “Bright and Beautiful” and we’d be happy to send it along on Hallmark’s behalf. If you can let us know Della’s sisters name, Hallmark can include a personal note to her too.

Jon

12/10/09

Emilie – I just sent you a brief note saying thank you and I just wanted to tell you so much more. I can’t believe and am deeply humbled that you went to the trouble of taking my request and running with it.  What you have accomplished is something that I or any of the rest of my family and friends have been able to do.  My daughter contacted them by phone and they basically told her that there was nothing they could do and that there were no more books to be gotten. But you—– Having taken a request from a perfect stranger and not even having any proof that what I said was the truth (and I wish it wasn’t) you put yourself out there and found a way to make something happen.  I had not seen the book that they are offering to send to her but just the title and looking at the website, it looks like it will be a very nice book and at least her granddaughter will be able to hear her grammie’s voice throughout her lifetime.  Again, I cannot thank you enough for who you are and what you do for people like me and your kindness will certainly always hold a very special place in my heart.

You are certainly a 5-STAR person – Della
12/12/09

Wow…this is VERY moving. I’m certainly glad we and Hallmark were able to help out!

Thank you for bringing it to our attention, this really means a lot. Really puts things in perspective, too.

Jon Gray

12/14/09

Dearest Emilie,

Please accept my deepest gratitude for your time and effort in obtaining a recordable Hallmark book for me.  I received this book today entitled Bright and Beautiful from your friend Jon Gray.  My husband and I just sat and cried while we read through Jon’s precious note and the words in the book.

I have completed half of my treatments of chemo and radiation and they seem to get harder every day and I wonder if quantity vs quality is always worth the effort, then those bright eyes of my granddaughter for whom I wanted this book seem to look right into mine and I know I must continue to fight for what life I may have left and every chance to hold her close to me.

I am truly humbled by your desire to help a complete stranger in your life but I want you to know how much it means to know my granddaughter will never forget her Grammie’s voice now and along with the pictures she will have of me she can carry my memory forever in her heart and mind.

Thank you dear from the bottom of my heart.  I am blessed you crossed my path and I will remember and cherish what you accomplished for me as long as I am here on this earth.  May your holiday be filled with wonderful surprises, but most of all the blessings of our Holy God.

Sincerely,

Mary Lou

12/20/09

Emilie – I know she also wrote you a beautiful note too and she told me that it took her 3 days to try and record the story so that her granddaughter could understand the words.  Thank you again for making such a special Christmas for her.  May God Bless You always – Della

These emails moved me to give my review copy of the storybook to my good friend Sarah (in a tearful exchange) whose mother had cancer as well. I’m so sorry to say that her mom passed earlier this year.

Throughout the following year I was kept on an email list with periodic updates on the treatments, just as though I was part of their support network. She was given a 30% chance to live and was working hard to beat the odds.

And just this past weekend:

Hi Emilie – Just a note to let you know that sis is doing very well.  She had her 4th CT scan recently since the cancer treatments and when she went in to see the doctor to get the report – he said, with a huge smile on his face —– ” YOU ARE PERFECT!!!!  – You have beaten the odds for this type of cancer and we have done our jobs here at Thompson.”  He said,you need to come back in 4 months, but you probably won’t see me and only in time will we be able to say remission, but right now, YOU ARE PERFECT!!!!”  She said, I’ll take that.”   Her grandaughter still talks about her book that grammie gave her with her voice on it, and again.

Thank You.

Della

The fact that Della would continue to think of me personally during this time and want to reach out yet again simply warmed my heart.  The irony is that I had planned to write this post this week already and I get to share such great news with you all.

I hesitated to ever share this story as it is such a personal one but it really was a moving experience for me.  Please consider reaching out to others and helping them in their time of need!

And in honor of using email to share what matters most:

12 Comments

  1. What a great story! Thanks so much for sharing. My son and I recorded a book for my dad to have while he was in the hospital since my kids couldn’t visit him there. I also bought one for him to record for my daughter, but never actually it to him. I have no idea why (It seemed too sad? Final?).. But, obviously now I’m terribly sad that I didn’t.

    Anyway, it was so nice of you to help that family and great of Hallmark to participate. You’re the best!

    1. I’m so sorry to hear that you didn’t get one with your dad’s voice on it. Hopefully just listening to the one you recorded will make you feel closer to him.

  2. that is very inspiring. for some reason all your posts are all extremely well written and they always capture my interest… You should be writing for a newspaper or something. great work!

  3. I’m not sure I ever saw your post on these books. Amazing what types of interaction it has led you to. Sometimes we can be so skeptical of people on the internet, but good for you for giving Della the benefit of the doubt. You are amazing.

    1. You probably didn’t since it was from my first year of blogging.
      http://www.babylovingmama.com/2009/11/hallmark-holiday-splurge-review-givaway.html

      I know it is so easy to be cynical but in this case the name of the cancer center combined with drawing attention to the high prices (why mention their increased value?) helped me give her the benefit of the doubt. And I figured I’d rather do it if there was even a chance the story was true. I’m so glad I did!

  4. I missed your post on this the first time around – I’m glad I caught it this time 🙂 What a great idea and an amazing, inspirational story. Thank you for sharing this with us *wipes away the tears*

    I echo what everyone before me has said – you are AWESOME! 🙂

  5. What a touching story. I had a two year battle with cancer, multiple surgeries and months of chemo. It was amazing how friends rallied around to help – giving my elderly mom rides to her doctor appointments when I could not, driving me to appointments, etc. but one of the most meaningful memories was a complete stranger who sent us a restaurant gift certificate to make things easier for my husband who had taken over all the household chores in addition to his job. I’ve been cancer free for 6 years now… I’ll never forget the kindness of this ‘stranger,’ and I’m sure Della will never forget you. 🙂

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