Sarah, in Culpeper, Virginia

“Like all photographers,” Sally Mann once said, “I depend on serendipity… I pray for what might be referred to as the angel of chance.”

That angel shows up for Postcards to the Front so many times that I am convinced that the angel of chance, and her sister, the angel of justice, are on the side of Ukraine.

For instance, this message that came to us via our website, “I am in Virginia and would like to start a postcard writing group. Can you send me this information?”

Sarah created her own postcards that feature the front of her Culpeper shop and started to write messages of support to Ukraine’s Defenders, as well as to encourage others to write.

Naturally, we’re curious to know how people find out about Postcards to the Front. Sarah’s story is that “Erik Inbody came into my shop after seeing the Ukraine flag flying outside … and gave me your address.”

Readers might remember Erik from the July issue of our newsletter. He was one of the Invictus Global Response members who Brandon Boisvert, of Oshawa, Ontario, has joined to serve in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian flag has flown outside Sarah’s shop since right after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. She’s replaced the flag four times, as weathering tatters and fades it. Sunflowers are the theme woven from the outside to inside her shop, as a symbol of support for Ukraine’s courage and resilience.

Sarah’s motive for standing with Ukraine, since the beginning, is that she believes that “Ukraine is standing against autocracy for us and the rest of the world, against ruthless killers and torturers. They are doing it for us all.”

Sarah told us that it hasn’t been difficult to enlist others to write cards; although, she reports, “it’s pretty funny to see “our kindergarten efforts, writing in the Cyrillic alphabet. Of course, our early … and later … attempts to copy the Cyrillic alphabet are wobbly and halting, but we had perhaps the worst time with the character that looks like an upside-down version of our alphabet’s letter N – the И. We see the Cyrillic character, and our N gets drawn. So, we have devised this trick: when we see the Cyrillic character coming up next, we repeat out loud and firmly:  ‘Down!  Down!  Down!’ for the first stroke. And we now keep fresh bottles of Wite-Out correction fluid on hand!”

Sarah added that the Ukrainian phrase translation sheets that we provide are “essential” to their writing efforts.

As to her motivation, Sarah observed that “the Ukrainian people and their unflagging courage are breathtaking. It is so wonderful to find a small way to perhaps help a little.”

Recently, Sarah has extended her support to help a Ukrainian person improve their English, via Zoom.

Sarah extends her caring and enthusiastic support of Ukraine by encouraging others to join in her efforts, reminding us that the angel of chance has brought us together to support Ukraine.

She also is hopeful: “May we all join hearts in victory!!!!!”

Lets!

Need cards? Write to us at postcardstothefront.canada@gmail.com, and we’ll send you postcards to write to Defenders. FREE!

Need ideas about what to write? Check our Tips page, and our Ukrainian phrases page.

Maybe you want to organize a group of family, friends or others to write postcards? Check our website for tips, How to Run a Postcard-Writing Workshop. Consider a group effort over the holidays or in the New Year, so we can send a lot of messages of love and support in time for February, when the 3^rd anniversary of the full-scale invasion rolls around.

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Postcards to the Front * P. O. Box 184, Millbrook, Ontario L0A 1G0 Canada