Mom Discovers Letter She Never Sent Her 3rd Grade Best Friend. Her Hunt to Find Her Leads Her Down Unexpected Path (Exclusive)
- - Mom Discovers Letter She Never Sent Her 3rd Grade Best Friend. Her Hunt to Find Her Leads Her Down Unexpected Path (Exclusive)
Angela AndaloroNovember 3, 2025 at 10:28 PM
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Dearist
Jennifer Yang (left), Dearist letter writer -
Jennifer Yang found a letter to a friend she never sent and started thinking about what letter-writing meant to her
Inspired and wanting to inject creative expression into kids' increasingly digital lives, she created Dearist
These letter-writing kits are teaching children why we write letters, how to write a letter, how the postal system works and more
One mom is taking a childhood hobby and turning it into an invitation for kids to connect with the people who love them most.
Jennifer Yang was first inspired to start Dearist, a book and stationery series for kids that focuses on personal, handwritten letters, after finding a piece of her childhood and thinking of what it could mean to children today.
"Dearist was really born out of a simple truth, that a handwritten letter holds this timeless magic. It has this quality of time travel, of putting you in another place. That's exactly what happened to me when I came across a box of my childhood letters I had saved from way back when," she tells PEOPLE.
"In this box, I found a letter I had written, addressed to a friend of mine from third grade. I remembered that this friend had moved away. And you know, I wanted to tell her, 'Thanks for being my very good friend,' but I also remembered that I was never able to mail this letter because I had been waiting for my parents to buy more stamps. And after all this time, this letter still never got mailed."
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The more she thought about it, the more Yang recognized that nothing today quite compares to writing, sending or receiving a handwritten letter.
"Writing has always been a part of my life. As a young girl, letter writing, in particular, was really the first tool I had for creating closeness with my friends. You know, you see your friends at school and at sports, but writing a letter is such a personal act of connection. And you know, I think we're all just looking for those moments of deeper connection, especially in our digital first world."
"Texts and email just don't have that quality!" she continued. "Then the idea sparked that, 'I could probably create a kit with everything needed to write a letter, including the stamps.' And I particularly had my own kids in mind."
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Dearist offers all the things kids need to be able to write and send great letters and "build soft skills."
"Building empathy, giving them a time to reflect, working on that emotional intelligence and really giving kids the freedom and space [from the digital world] is at the heart of Dearist," Yang says.
"As a parent, too, I wanted to enable that in my own kids now. With all the distractions kids have at their fingertips today. I'm driven by this urgent need I see to invest in creative expression and empathy building."
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"There are fewer opportunities to practice writing, especially by hand. We imagine kids at desks with books and pencils, but the truth is a lot of the work, especially upwards of 3rd grade, is submitted electronically these days," Yang notes.
"I've learned in connecting with teachers and administrators at different schools that letter writing just isn't a requirement anymore, as an unintended consequence of the shift to focus on standardized testing with the Core Curriculum in the 2010s," she continues, adding, "Letter writing is also accessible. You don't need a new piece of technology or to learn new software. There are so many benefits, from fostering meaningful connections to working on empathy building."
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Yang says she's received feedback from her letter writers that the kits are helping kids get excited about writing letters to friends and family.
"When I first came up with the idea, I tested it with some neighborhood kids. What I learned is that a lot of kids just didn't know why you would write a letter, much less how the mail works. So that kind of clued me in that there was a teaching opportunity here, which is how I went back and created the three-book series that goes along with the kit," she explains.
"The first book explains the emotional underpinnings of letters and really using them to connect with another person. The second explains what happens to a letter once you put it in a mailbox. The third is all about postage stamps. Kids really enjoy learning about this and [it] gives them a tool to manage their emotions, stop and reflect."
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Now, Yang is dedicated to bringing Dearist to more homes and classrooms across the country.
"We've helped kids write and send over a thousand handwritten letters through Dearist," she proudly shares.
"I'm deeply invested in wanting to provide these tools for creative expression. One of the most common reactions people have to Dearist is nostalgia, but that feeling is followed by a heavier feeling, that kids today are missing out on something. It gives me hope that what I'm doing is resonating with parents and educators and appealing to kids, as well. That's the most rewarding part of the work."
As for the unsent letter, Yang says she attempted to find an address to forward it to her former best friend, but so far has been unsuccessful.
"Later in life, I’ve tried mailing it but could not find the proper address," she says. "I looked Rebecca W up on Facebook as well and could not find her. Rebecca W, if you are out there, I would love to connect with you!”
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
