Now you can post a letter to loved ones in Heaven
DOZENS of crematoriums are installing a “Heaven’s postbox” after a nine-year-old girl came up with the touching idea.
Matilda Handy wanted to express her emotions after two of her grandparents passed away – so mum Leanne approached bosses of Gedling Crematorium where she works.
They loved the schoolgirl’s idea of grieving relatives being able to send notes to their lost loved ones so repainted an old postbox white. It soon attracted more than 100 letters. The tribute postboxes are being added to nearly 40 sites run by cemeteries firm Westerleigh Group. Matilda lost her Post Office worker gran Pat in 2017 – while grandad Keith died last November.
She said that being able to write them letters and put them in the postbox helped her cope. She hopes that the idea will also benefit others dealing with grief:
Matilda said: “We’re doing these to be used by people when they walk past.
“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.”
Her first letter included a poem, with these lines: “If Heaven had a phone, then I’d give you a ring. Just to 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.”
Mum Leanne, 45, of Arnold, Nottingham, said: “My mum worked in a Post Office for 25 years in our local community and it just seemed fitting. Matilda was so used to being around postboxes and letters and always wanted to send ‘Mama’ one.
“I had a lady who said she really struggled as she couldn’t send her mum a Christmas card. The postbox had a big impact on her.
“It’s used every single day, whether it’s someone old or young.
“People find real comfort in sending something, whether it’s a child drawing a picture or an older person. We’re certainly proud of her. If it can help her it can help a lot of other people.”
Matthew Brook, Westerleigh’s head of memorialisation, said:
“Matilda’s postbox has touched the hearts of so many bereaved people.”