“Grief changes shape, but it never ends.” – Keanu Reeves

The wound we suffer after losing someone we love, doesn’t ever fully heal. Time brings some peace – but at our edges, the pain of grief often waits, making itself known when we least expect it.

And when you’re young, that sting of grief hits ever harder as you’re still learning to navigate the landmines that life can throw your way.

So when 10-year-old Matilda Handy of England lost her grandparents, just five years apart, she was desperate for a way to express her grief.

Matilda came up with a simple idea, thanks she said, to her grandmother Pat who worked at a post office until her death in 2017.

“Postbox to Heaven” would be a way Matilda could write to her grandparents even though they were dead. 

The plaque in front of the Letters to Heaven post office box. Photo by SWNS

Her mom, Leanne, works at Gedling Crematorium in nearby Nottingham, and asked if they could repurpose an old postbox on the property. Her employers agreed.

Matilda was the first person to put a message in our first memorial post box at Gedling last December,” Leanne said.

The box helped the young girl through her grief. “It’s just a very nice way to express my feelings and send a letter to them and to say how much I love them.”

And now, she said, “we’re doing these to be used by people when they walk past.”

The young girl’s tribute to her grandparents picked up steam. There are more than 40 mailboxes spread across England, Scotland and Wales.

“We had no idea then that, one year later, there would be a memorial post box … bringing comfort to people all over the country, and we feel very proud,” Leanne said.

Letters to Heaven post office box. Photo by SWNS

The original mailbox had more than 100 letters written by residents, all hoping to find a way to ease their grief over their lost loved ones.

Matilda doesn’t plan to stop working to get more memorial post boxes put up.

“I have written to King Charles to see if he might want to install one at Buckingham Palace, to remember loved ones such as the late Queen, Prince Phillip and Princess Diana,” she said.

Westerleigh Group, one of the UK’s largest independent owners and operators of crematoria and cemeteries, said they have received such positive feedback that they are committed to installing memorial post boxes at all its sites.

So far, the group estimates that around 3,000 letters, cards and messages have been posted in just the past year.

“The legacy of Matilda’s idea is helping to bring comfort to thousands of bereaved people around the country and beyond,” said Debbie Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Westerleigh Group.

They are for absolutely anyone who feels they may draw some comfort from using them.”

And comfort is what Matilda found in the first letter she wrote.

In it, she included a poem, which read: ‘If heaven had a phone, Then I’d give you a ring. Just hear your voice and tell you, How my day has been. But it doesn’t have a phone, To make missing you better, So instead I write my feelings down. And send them in a letter.’

Watch below to see this lovely little girl help so many overcome grief.

Sources: Zenger News | Metro