WEBVTT 1 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:16.920 Hus was to be hers. The post office in the 2 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:20.120 village of Ashworth was a small stone building with a 3 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:22.800 blue door and a bell that rang when any one 4 00:00:22.839 --> 00:00:26.079 walked in. It had been there for as long as 5 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:29.160 any one could remember, and Eda had been behind the 6 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:32.640 counter for forty of those years. She knew the rhythm 7 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:34.719 of the mail the way a musician knows a song. 8 00:00:35.799 --> 00:00:39.280 Monday mornings brought the most letters because people wrote on 9 00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:43.880 weekends when they had time. Wednesdays were quiet, Fridays brought 10 00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:47.320 packages because people liked to send things for the weekend. 11 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:51.640 And every day, without fail, old mister Finch would come 12 00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:54.079 in at exactly ten o'clock to check for a letter 13 00:00:54.119 --> 00:00:57.439 from his daughter in Canada. Eda handled each piece of 14 00:00:57.479 --> 00:01:00.920 mail as if it were something fragile and pressure, which 15 00:01:00.920 --> 00:01:03.719 in a way it was. A letter was a small 16 00:01:03.799 --> 00:01:06.920 act of faith. Some one had sat down, taken a 17 00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:10.159 pen and decided that another person needed to hear from them. 18 00:01:10.680 --> 00:01:13.680 That was a kind of love, Ida thought, even when 19 00:01:13.719 --> 00:01:16.599 the words were ordinary. She knew of the people of 20 00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:20.680 Ashworth by their mail. Missus Patterson received letters from a 21 00:01:20.719 --> 00:01:23.840 man who was not her husband, and Eda never said 22 00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:26.879 a word about it, because the letters were sealed and 23 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:30.959 private and none of her business. Young Danny Cooper got 24 00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:34.680 a package every month from his grandmother in Cornwall, filled 25 00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:38.640 with short bread and hand knitted socks. The Reverend received 26 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:41.920 thick envelopes from the dioceses that always made him sigh. 27 00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:45.200 And then there was the letter that arrived on a 28 00:01:45.239 --> 00:01:49.359 Thursday in November, addressed to no one. It was a 29 00:01:49.400 --> 00:01:56.760 plain envelope, white and unmarked, with no return address. The 30 00:01:56.879 --> 00:01:59.959 name on the front simply said the person who needs them. 31 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:04.439 Ida held it up to the light, but she could 32 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:09.280 not see through it. She turned it over nothing. She 33 00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:11.319 placed it on the counter and looked at it for 34 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:14.280 a long time. The bell on the door rang, and 35 00:02:14.360 --> 00:02:16.719 missus Chen came in to send a parcel to her 36 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:19.919 son in London. And i'da wrap a it carefully and 37 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:22.560 weighed it and stamped it and chatted about the weather. 38 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:27.120 But her eyes kept returning to the plain, white envelope. 39 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:30.199 At closing time, when the last customer had gone and 40 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:33.319 the bell had rung its final ring, Ida picked up 41 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:36.719 the envelope and opened it. She told herself it was 42 00:02:36.759 --> 00:02:40.319 her duty as the postmistress to know what came through 43 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:45.280 her office. Inside was a single sheet of paper fold 44 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:49.560 at once. The handwriting was small and careful, as if 45 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:53.879 the writer had taken great pains to be legible. Dear stranger, 46 00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:57.520 the letter read, I do not know your name, but 47 00:02:57.639 --> 00:03:00.759 I know that some days are harder than others. Some 48 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:03.039 mornings you wake up and the weight of the world 49 00:03:03.159 --> 00:03:06.840 presses down on your chest like a stone. You wonder 50 00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:10.599 if any one notices you, Wonder if any one cares. 51 00:03:11.400 --> 00:03:14.039 I want you to know that I care. I have 52 00:03:14.120 --> 00:03:17.400 been where you are. I have felt the lowliness that 53 00:03:17.479 --> 00:03:21.039 wraps around you like a cold wind, and I want 54 00:03:21.080 --> 00:03:25.240 to tell you that it passes, not quickly, not easily, 55 00:03:25.719 --> 00:03:30.319 but it passes. The sun comes out again, the birds sing. 56 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:34.039 You find a reason to smile, even if it is 57 00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:37.960 a small one. Please take care of yourself. You matter 58 00:03:38.039 --> 00:03:42.879 more than you know. I'da read the letter three times. 59 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:46.400 Then she placed it back in its envelope and put 60 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:49.000 it in the drawer beneath the counter where she kept 61 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:54.439 stamps and straying and other useful things. She thought about 62 00:03:54.439 --> 00:03:58.159 it all evening. She thought about it while she made 63 00:03:58.159 --> 00:04:01.800 her tea and sat in her arm chair and watched 64 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:05.439 the fire. She thought about the people who came into 65 00:04:05.479 --> 00:04:08.960 her post office every day, and she wondered which of 66 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:13.280 them might need to hear those words. The next morning, 67 00:04:13.719 --> 00:04:16.600 she made a copy of the letter. She was not 68 00:04:16.720 --> 00:04:20.199 sure why, it just seemed like the right thing to do. 69 00:04:21.720 --> 00:04:24.759 She placed the copy in a new envelope and addressed 70 00:04:24.759 --> 00:04:28.360 it to mister Finch, because he came in every day 71 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:33.639 at ten o'clock and sometimes his eyes looked tired. Mister 72 00:04:33.720 --> 00:04:38.079 Finch came in at ten o'clock as always, he checked 73 00:04:38.079 --> 00:04:42.560 his box. There was no letter from his daughter. His 74 00:04:42.680 --> 00:04:48.040 shoulder sagged just slightly. Ida watched him from behind the counter. 75 00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:54.279 Mister Finch, She said, I have something for you. He 76 00:04:54.360 --> 00:05:00.399 looked up, surprised for me. A letter. She said, some 77 00:05:00.519 --> 00:05:04.959 one left it here for you. She held out the envelope. 78 00:05:05.319 --> 00:05:09.079 Mister Finch took it with trembling hands. He opened it 79 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:14.240 and read. Ida watched his face change. The tiredness did 80 00:05:14.279 --> 00:05:19.639 not disappear, but something else appeared alongside it, a softness, 81 00:05:20.600 --> 00:05:26.639 a lightness. His eyes grew bright. Who sent this, he asked, 82 00:05:27.639 --> 00:05:31.920 I do not know. Ida said it was left here anonymously. 83 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:36.160 Mister Finch folded the letter carefully and placed it in 84 00:05:36.199 --> 00:05:41.399 his breast pocket. Over his heart. Thank you, Ida, he said, 85 00:05:42.120 --> 00:05:45.240 I did not know I needed this. He left the 86 00:05:45.279 --> 00:05:47.959 post office with a straighter step than he had come 87 00:05:47.959 --> 00:05:52.079 in with, and Ida felt something warm spread through her chest. 88 00:05:52.920 --> 00:05:57.480 Over the following weeks, Ida continued to make copies. She 89 00:05:57.639 --> 00:06:00.959 sent the letter to missus Patterson, who had been looking 90 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:05.000 worried lately. She sent one to young Danny Cooper, who 91 00:06:05.079 --> 00:06:08.800 was struggling with exams. She sent one to the reverend 92 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:12.480 who had mentioned in a sermon that even priests sometimes 93 00:06:12.519 --> 00:06:17.439 felt alone. Each time she watched the person receive the letter, 94 00:06:18.199 --> 00:06:22.480 each time she saw something shift in their face. Not 95 00:06:22.600 --> 00:06:27.199 a dramatic change, not a miracle, just a small lifting, 96 00:06:27.879 --> 00:06:30.639 like a cloud moving aside to let the sum through. 97 00:06:31.480 --> 00:06:34.959 She began to wonder about the original writer who had 98 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:38.720 written those words, who had walked into her post office 99 00:06:38.720 --> 00:06:41.800 on that Thursday in November and left the letter for 100 00:06:41.879 --> 00:06:46.240 a stranger. She checked the security footage, but the camera 101 00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:49.120 had been pointing at the wall for months and no 102 00:06:49.160 --> 00:06:52.199 one had thought to fix it. It did not matter, 103 00:06:52.600 --> 00:06:56.439 she decided. The letter had done its work. Whoever had 104 00:06:56.480 --> 00:07:01.160 written it had understood something important that people sometimes needed 105 00:07:01.160 --> 00:07:03.800 to hear, that they were not alone and that the 106 00:07:03.879 --> 00:07:08.120 hearing could come from anywhere, even a plain white envelope. 107 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:12.560 In a small village post office, Ida kept the original 108 00:07:12.680 --> 00:07:18.639 letter in her desk drawer. On difficult days, when the 109 00:07:18.680 --> 00:07:23.199 mail was heavy and the bills were demanding, and the 110 00:07:23.240 --> 00:07:27.279 world felt too loud, she took it out and read 111 00:07:27.279 --> 00:07:32.720 it again, and every time the words settled over her 112 00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:37.480 like a warm blanket. I want you to know that 113 00:07:37.560 --> 00:07:43.120 I care. Winter came to Ashworth. The stone walls of 114 00:07:43.160 --> 00:07:46.959 the post office turned cold. Frost formed on the blue 115 00:07:47.040 --> 00:07:50.279 door each morning, and Ida had to scrape it off 116 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:54.839 before opening. The days were short and the nights were long, 117 00:07:55.160 --> 00:07:57.680 and the mail came in the gray half light of 118 00:07:57.800 --> 00:08:03.720 early morning. But the letters continued, not just the ordinary letters, 119 00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:08.480 the bills, and the cards and the packages. Other letters 120 00:08:08.519 --> 00:08:13.959 began to appear, playing white envelopes with no return address, 121 00:08:14.759 --> 00:08:18.959 addressed to the person who needs this. Eda was not 122 00:08:19.160 --> 00:08:23.160 the only one writing them any more. She smiled when 123 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:26.600 she found the first one, left on the counter by 124 00:08:26.600 --> 00:08:28.800 someone who had come and gone while she was in 125 00:08:28.839 --> 00:08:33.080 the back room sorting parcels. She opened it and read 126 00:08:33.080 --> 00:08:37.720 a different handwriting a different voice, but the same spirit. 127 00:08:38.799 --> 00:08:43.600 Dear stranger, you are stronger than you think. The hard 128 00:08:43.720 --> 00:08:49.200 days do not last forever. Keep going. The handwriting was 129 00:08:49.240 --> 00:08:53.080 a bit shaky, as if the writer had been nervous. 130 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:57.960 Eda imagined an old person, or perhaps a young one, 131 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:00.879 someone who had felt the weight and wanted to share 132 00:09:00.919 --> 00:09:04.279 the remedy. She made a copy and sent it to 133 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:08.440 missus Chen, whose son had not written in weeks. More 134 00:09:08.519 --> 00:09:14.559 letters appeared. Some were long, some were short. Some were 135 00:09:14.600 --> 00:09:20.320 written in careful cursive, some in hurried print. One was 136 00:09:20.360 --> 00:09:25.000 written in colored pencil, as if by a child. Each 137 00:09:25.080 --> 00:09:30.639 one said, in its own way, you are not alone. 138 00:09:30.679 --> 00:09:35.360 Each one carried a small, quiet light. Eda began to 139 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:39.519 keep a special box beneath the counter, a wooden box 140 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:42.720 with a hinged lid, where she stored the letters that 141 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:48.000 were left for strangers. She read them sometimes in the 142 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:52.519 evening after closing, sitting in the blue light of the 143 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:57.320 post office with her tea growing cold. The words filled 144 00:09:57.360 --> 00:10:01.279 her with a feeling she could not puite name. It 145 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:06.600 was not happiness exactly, It was something deeper. It was 146 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:10.039 the feeling that the world, for all its noise and 147 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:15.919 rush and worry, was still capable of small, unexpected kindness. 148 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:21.159 Spring arrived the frost on the blue door gave way 149 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:25.480 to do. The hedge outside the post office bloomed with 150 00:10:25.559 --> 00:10:30.799 white flowers, and the birds returned to the eaves. Mister 151 00:10:30.840 --> 00:10:36.200 Finch's daughter finally wrote a long letter full of news 152 00:10:36.440 --> 00:10:40.159 and photographs, and Ida handed it to him with a 153 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:45.639 smile that she could not contain. See. She said she 154 00:10:45.799 --> 00:10:51.080 was just busy. Mister Finch laughed, a sound Ida had 155 00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:56.840 not heard in months. Yes, he said, I suppose she was. 156 00:10:57.720 --> 00:11:01.559 That evening, Ida sat in her arm chair with the 157 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:06.159 wooden box on her lap. She took out the original letter, 158 00:11:06.879 --> 00:11:11.639 the first one, the one that had started everything. She 159 00:11:11.799 --> 00:11:16.039 read it one more time. Please take care of yourself. 160 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:20.279 You matter more than you know. She folded it gently 161 00:11:20.360 --> 00:11:23.639 and placed it back in the box. Then she closed 162 00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:27.480 the lid, carried the box to the shelf above the fireplace, 163 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:32.279 and put the kettle on for tea. Outside, the evening 164 00:11:32.399 --> 00:11:36.200 was soft, and the sky was turning the color of roses, 165 00:11:36.960 --> 00:11:41.279 and somewhere in the village a dog barked and children laughed, 166 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:46.000 and the world went on as it always did, carrying 167 00:11:46.039 --> 00:11:50.720 its small quiet gifts from one person to another. Ida 168 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:54.000 sipped her tea and listened to the silence and the 169 00:11:54.120 --> 00:11:55.200 silence was kind,