'Dear Jackie '

'With lots of love and kisses to my darling Cathy '.

Lissy concluded it by drawing two tiny hearts on the card, folded it neatly and placed it in the envelope .

If she hurried now her card would go out with the first mail pickup of the day .

She took her walking stick and her sling bag and went out of the house .

With slow measured steps she walked towards the post office which was just a stone's throw away from her house.

Tenny the postmistress greeted her with a warm smile.

"Good morning Lissy"

"Good morning Tenny, how are you this glorious morning? "

I have never felt better , another card for one of your nieces?"

"Yes its Cathy's birthday next week"

Tenny smiled ruefully, the irony was Lissy never received any letters from either of her nieces,though she painstakingly remembered everyone's birthday and anniversaries and never failed to send them cards or letters.

Lissy loved chatting with Tenny as she was one of the few persons on her list whom she could talk to. She chatted with Tenny for sometime and as she turned to leave she saw Tim the Postman, who had just come in. "Hello Lissy " He greeted her. "Hello Tim, how have you been?"

"I'm fit as a fiddle ,nothing to complain about in my old age " "You're still young Tim"

"I will be sixty next month Lissy"

"At my age sixty seems young to me. Give my love to your wife. How is she?"

"A bit sad Lissy as our youngest one has flown the nest"

"That's inevitable Tim" . Lissy said

She enjoyed this banter she exchanged with them occasionally, they were an eternal part of this post office since Lissy and Joe moved here forty years ago., those were just fantastic days their memories etched in her mind forever. 

Joe was a good listener and she a voracious speaker their union was a perfect combination which is so rare. Now it would be days before she spoke to anyone.

As she walked back home the roads had a deserted look. Most of the people had left the village for greener pastures, especially the youngsters . The ones left behind were old ctizens who were loyal to the place they were born to.

Lissy's husband Joe had passed away a few years ago and since then she led a lonely and empty  life ,with few friends from the village who were mostly sick or invalid.

She had no children, only few nieces who lived in big cities , always busy with their jobs or family .

She would get an occasional message on her phone from them which she knew was just a formality .

Lissy hated this idea of sending messages on phone which she felt was bereft of feelings and emotions . She always wrote letters or sent hand written cards to her aquantainces, but her gestures were never reciprocated except for one line messages on her phone.

Technology had made people lazy and heartless , what's the use of technology if it changed human beings into machines, people hardly spoke to anyone these days or wrote letters, just  a few messages on phone which would be a copy paste.

She had made up her mind long ago that she would never indulge in it. The thrill and excitement of receiving her first love letter  from Joe could never be erased from her mind.

He would write such poetic letters. It had taken her an hour and lots of courage to open that letter. A wave of exhilaration swept through her as she read the letter and was so mesmerised by it that she kept on reading it again and again.

That letter was still preserved by her,  written sixty years ago now worn out and   in tatters.

Lissy loved writing ,she use to write long letters to Joe when he was away at war , giving him miniscule details about her everyday activities. He had told her that it was her letters which kept him going in those dark depressing years.

She always felt, a personal touch was missing in the messages sent by phone .

On the way back , she picked up the local newspaper from a vendor, she loved solving the crossword and reading the comic section.

She settled down on her favourite armchair with a cup of steaming tea. She glanced through the news  before going over to the crossword section.

A particular piece of news drew her attention it was about a twelve year old boy Caleb,' who was fighting a losing battle against cancer. Her eyes welled up with tears after reading that dreadful news , she felt miserable about it. 'He is too young to die 'she thought .

Sometimes life dishes out a raw deal to you and there's nothing much you can do about it.

She called the editor and asked for Caleb's address as she wanted to send him a card. Along with the card she included a handwritten note in which she told him how brave he was and how much she admired him.. she also wrote a small story about another world which is more beautiful than the present one and finally we all have to go there.

Next morning she went to the post office and posted the card. A few days later she was surprised to get a card on her address. She opened it and was amazed to see a thankyou card from Caleb's mother saying she appreciated this gesture of hers and how Caleb loved her story and encouraging words.. .he never had any friends visiting him nor was he in a condition to watch television and he was thrilled to receive a letter from someone he did not know.

Lissy made up her mind to write regularly to Caleb, telling him about her childhood, about Joe and  some funny anecdotes which may bring some cheer into his life.

Time and again she would receive a thankyou card from Caleb's mother saying, he enjoyed her funny stories and would wait for her letters .

Lissy told her specifically not to send any thankyou cards as she was doing it out of her love for writing and if it brought loads of joy in her son's life that was good  enough for her .

She continued this process for a month but unfortunately she caught the flu and was indisposed for a few days and couldn't write the letters.

Her old body took a long time to recover and another month passed before she cold recover fully. Lissy tried her best to pen down a few words but she was still weak and not feeling up to it to write .

One morning , she heard a knock at the door. A young lady was standing there.

"Hello Lissy ! May I come in?. I'm Caleb's mother. "

Lissy was surprised to see her .

"Yes please do" she invited her inside and offered her a seat.

"How's Caleb? I'm sorry I couldn't write letters to him as I was unwell myself."

"Lissy, Caleb passed away a month ago, after battling cancer for two years .I have come here to thank you personally . My husband and I appreciate the initiative that you took of sending cards and letters to Caleb." "You had brought so much of joy to our son in his final days for that we will always be indebted to you for life."

Lissy was crying now,

"I'm so sorry to hear of your loss but I'm glad I could bring some happiness to Caleb in his last days "

"There is something I have for you Lissy, Caleb wanted you to have this ". She handed an envelope to her.

Lissy opened the envelope there was a photograph in it.

It was Caleb's photo and something was written behind it. She put on her glasses to read them.

'Thankyou Lissy ......Love Caleb'. She looked at his mother who was trying her best to control her tears of gratitude.

"Nothing can be more precious than this" said Lissy.

She walked up to Caleb's mother and they both hugged eachother crying and smiling at the same time.

She told Lissy that she would be in touch and left.

Lissy never forgot Caleb and often wondered about his parents ,what a grave tragedy it was for  them  and she prayed that they were strong enough to  cope up with their great loss.

Life continued as usual for Lissy and she took up her favourite hobby, she started writing short stories and poems.

Her fingers were stiff due to old age but her mind was still very active. She would just close her eyes and ideas would start cascading  to her mind  which would spill down on the paper through her pen, writing was her passion and it gave her immense pleasure.

One day as she was reading the newspaper, a peice of news caught her eye . It was about a young girl Jackie who was admitted to the local hospital .She had lost both her legs in an accident and was so depressed that she had tried to commit suicide twice .

Lissy knew what she had to do . She brought out the letter pad picked up her pen and started writing.

'Dear Jackie.'......