23 May 2017

Hallmark Care Homes launches letters to your younger self campaign

Hallmark Care Homes is 20 this year and to celebrate, we’ve encouraged our residents to write letters to their younger self.

To everyone at Hallmark turning 20 is a wonderful milestone, but for many of our residents since they’ve turned 20 a lot of lessons have been learnt and words of wisdom shared.

Here are five letters that have been submitted to us by our residents so far:

Dear Jean,

I wish to thank you for that lovely week on the farm, which your mother invited me to when our family couldn’t go to Yarmouth due to the war.

We had so much fun feeding the lambs with their bottles. What fun we had playing about on the hay stack until your brother ordered us down.

Your mum was a lovely cook and taking goodies to your men working in the fields was fun too. I hope your mum liked the vase I gave her.

See you soon,

Joan

Dear Eira,

I enjoyed my life and had a great friend in Betty Lewis since the age of five. A true friend as friends should be.

I wish I studied more so I would tell my younger self to do better at school.

I had one child called Anne. I really wanted a carpet for the front room but my husband wanted a baby first then a carpet. But I am glad I had Anne first before the carpet. Sometimes I wish I had two children. My sister would have been thrilled if I had two.

I was sectary of Pen-y-Wern Dowlais Chapel and I would not change it for the world. I visited Palestine to preach to the cross that Jesus was crucified.

My boyfriend was on the bridge in Pen-y-Wern and he was waiting for me. I was walking down to meet him with another boy from the chapel. The other boy asked me for a kiss so I covered us up with my umbrella so my boyfriend couldn’t see us kissing! I wouldn’t change a thing.

I wouldn’t change anything about my life as I’ve done everything I have wanted to do!

Love

Eira

Dear Joan,

At 85 years old I would like to try and give you some advice. Your future is unique and you will make the majority of your choices.

At your age you need to know that love of your family and friends is most important, and this is so for life.

Now, with their help education comes second and gives you so many choices in all walks of life and you need the best you can get. A career helps you through life.

One of the major choices maybe a husband and family, choose your partner carefully and work hard to keep it compatible.

Love

Joan

Dear Mags,

Hope you are doing well! Just a bit of advice for you!

Enjoy your young healthy life, use your abilities to search for a future for you.

Working as an assistant in a store, getting a lot of experience to help yourself train for the health and beauty college. That will give you the opportunity to go on the cruise liner, making up ladies in the beauty salon on the liner, giving them facials and cleansing their faces, apply makeup and styling hair. You’ll also help to decide the clothes to wear for both the day and evening.

With love,

Mags

Dear Edith,

I hope all is well with you!

I’m feeling great and been thinking of times gone by – the good and maybe “not so good” times.

Remember the “air raids”, when we sat in the air raid shelter? I think of the “raid” when the incendiary bombs fell on Canton library and I sat under a table to shelter from any debris. Pumping water from a bucket I tried to contain the flames – but with luck – the caretaker arrived and together we tipped sand and water on the flames – and put the flames out!!

Lots of love,

Edith

We have also been delighted to receive some submissions from bloggers LearningPatience and Mummytimestwo, who have written some heartfelt letters to their younger selves. Read them below:

Dear Corey,

I just wanted to tell you that life will get better…

I know you go to middle school every day and get picked on but just stay focused on school and know that this will pass, I promise.

Don’t let those bullies break your spirit, keep being the kind, friendly, talkative girl you have always been. You may go home and cry but please know you have so much to look forward to in life. I don’t want to ruin it for you but trust me girl…the world’s your oyster. You will travel to places you haven’t even heard of yet and you will do things you wouldn’t even believe me if I told you now.  You have an epic journey ahead of you so don’t let this stage of your life make you sad/mad/unhappy.

I know you worry about things and are always trying to be the best. Please don’t let your stress get so high about grades, sports and the future that you get sick, OK?  Maybe you should try running, I know you hate it now but I think if you gave it a chance, you would love it. Listen to me, I know what I’m talking about.

Don’t date guys who don’t treat you right, you have so much to offer that anything less than the best will not be good enough. The right one will come along when you least expect it. And yes, he will be cute, successful and smart, just try and be patient.

Live every second to the fullest – do things that scare you, laugh as loud and as much as possible and if others hate on you, ignore them. Don’t waste time with hate, anger or revenge, they are all a waste of time.

Find a church you love and go…a lot.

Love your family, even when they annoy you because they are the only ones you got…and people don’t live forever, including you.

Sleep more and eat well. Be grateful and give to others. There are so many people in this world that need help, love and kindness. Share your spirit and time with those in need and do so often.

And finally, remember when life throw’s you a curveball or three…  You are strong, smart and brave and never let anyone tell you that something can’t be done.

I know life seems hard right now in this moment but wipe those tears away and show the world your big, beautiful smile. Because you are awesome, it might take a while for everyone else to notice…but it will happen, I promise.  X

Dear Vicky,

If you only you knew just how much life would give you, you would worry so much less.

I know right now exams and school work seem like the most important thing in the world. You can’t imagine a world after university – or even really what being there will be like.

You are so goal oriented, so driven, so focused.

And that’s a good thing, it will mean you will get your place at university and make better friends that you ever imagined possible. But it’s OK to take a break now and again. I know everyone around you is always telling you this, but there really is more to life than work.

Take time to look around you and enjoy your life.

Be a teenager, have fun. It’s OK to let your hair down. You are allowed to be a bit less focused at least some of the time.

Take time to relish the last of your childhood.

Next year your dad will walk out the door, phoning later only to say he is never coming home. It will alter your life forever. You’ll worry far more about your decisions. You will wonder who you can really trust, and for a long time that will stop you trusting anyone at all.

You will wonder if you will ever heal and you’ll make decisions you would never have made before. Some of them good and some of them less so.

But you will get through it, and so will your mum.

Professionally you’ll achieve everything you wanted to and more. You will be happy in your work, and you will get a chance to make a real difference to more children than you can imagine right now.

You will teach children to read that others have given up on. Staff will think you have a magic wand, but you will know the secret. It’s simple. Give the children everything you have and they will give it back.

All children can learn, they just need you to believe in them. Remember that. It will become the backbone of who you are.

Personally, life will be a little more complex. There will be ups and downs and twists in the road, but remember always that you are a survivor. No matter what life throws at you, you will find a way. You will reinvent yourself. You will always be the best mum you can be.

And ultimately you will find love.

You will have a family again. A real one. A complete one.

You will be happy. Know always that you will get there. And never ever give up.

Lots of Love

An Older (If Not Always Wiser) You

We can’t wait to receive more letters from our residents, we love reading them and each letter is truly inspiring. We also want to invite others to write a letter to their younger self. We’d love to hear from team, family of residents, schools, authors, and anyone else who would like to get involved.

What have you learned since you were 20 and what advice might you offer yourself years down the line? Even if you’re 11 what advice would you give your 20 future self! We can’t wait to hear from everyone and of course the best will be published on our blog and placed into our Hallmark Care Homes 20th anniversary series.

You can submit your letters to your younger (or older) self by emailing: news@hallmarkcarehomes.co.uk or tweeting a photo of them using the hashtag #letterstoyouryoungerself.

Click here to find your nearest Hallmark care home.