This is a guest post by Rachel Chadwick.
Rachel Chadwick – author of 60 Postcards
60 Postcards
When my mother died of bowel cancer in February 2012 after a horrifyingly short sixteen days from her diagnosis to her death, life became a complete blur. I was left utterly heartbroken and wondering just how I was going to cope without her. Grief was dragging me down, but as the milestone of her sixtieth birthday approached that year, I was determined to make it a mission of remembrance for the wonderful woman I had lost.
I never could have imagined how much the celebration of her life would change my own.
It all started with 60 Postcards in Paris…..
1. The Tribute:
With Eurostar vouchers as the last gift that Mum had given to me before she passed away, I decided to visit Paris for a long weekend with a group of my closest friends. But this would be no ordinary city break – I chose to leave a creative tribute for my mother while I was there. Wanting to spread the word about her far and wide, I decided to leave 60 postcards – one for every year of her life – around the City of Love. I put my email address on the postcards, just in case anyone was to find one. It became such a beautiful distraction from the pain that I was in.
2. My blog:
English was always my favorite lesson at school and resulted in me studying for a degree in English Language at Cardiff University. I always loved to write but for some reason I put it to one side – I never found a subject that I was passionate about. And then came my tribute – the perfect opportunity to reignite that spark and do something that I love, while telling the world about my Mum. 60 Postcards the blog was born.
3. Family and friends:
Through sharing my story, it brought me even closer to my family and friends. I even heard stories about Mum from them that I had never heard before. My project was also bringing me back in touch with people I had lost contact with. But the most incredible part of it all was that I was meeting new people around the world – from Sheffield to Luxembourg and even New York – as some strangers (astonishingly) did find my postcards in Paris!
4. Getting readers involved:
With so much support and encouragement from followers of 60 Postcards, I soon realised that I could use my blog as a platform for other people’s stories too. I created Project Inspire, coming across individuals/groups who would share what or who inspires them and then more recently there has been the launch of a twitter campaign. All people need to do is to tweet me @60postcards, using the hashtag, #Team60Postcards and answer the following question: If you had only one postcard left in the world, who would you send it to?
5. The book:
It was through receiving so many comments and email responses to the blog from people who had also lost a loved one that spurred me on with my project. I took a leap of faith and contacted Emerald Street (Stylist) who mentioned my story in one of their daily emails. I experienced a surge of new readers and also began to gain interest from the literary world. I felt like I was in a dream when I received a book deal offer from Simon and Schuster in just September of last year. I had to accept!
So not only has this been a beautiful distraction while keeping Mum’s memory alive, but now I am able to tell my tale through a book – something which my family and I can treasure forever. And who knows where the project will take me next……
You can find the link to the book here.
Blog: www.60postcards.com
Twitter: @60postcards
Rachel Chadwick
