THELong Letter

ONE TRUE LINE AT A TIME

The Wall

One line each, from mothers in every season, filed by what they are about. Read the nights when it is the middle of one. Read court the week before yours. You will find out you are not the only one.

What this is

A wall of single sentences from mothers. That is the whole of it.

Somebody sends one line that is true for her today. I read it before it goes anywhere. Then it goes up, with any name she likes or none at all. Nobody can reply to it, argue with it, or find her from it.

What it is for

The hour when you are sure you are the only one. You are not, and a page of sentences from strangers will convince you of that faster than any person telling you so.

It is filed by subject so you can go straight to the part you are in. Read the nights in the middle of one. Read court the week before yours. Read money on the day the math will not work.

What it is not

Not a support group, not a forum, not advice. Nobody here is going to tell you what to do about your life, and that is most of the reason it feels safe to read.

It costs nothing, and you do not have to subscribe to anything to read it or to add yours.

Four years out. It does get quieter. Not easier exactly. Quieter.

filed under starting over · an example line

The lines here for now are examples I wrote, so you can see what the Wall holds. As real lines arrive, they take their place.

Add yours

One sentence, true today. It does not have to be hopeful, and it does not have to be finished.

A line first, and under two hundred characters.

200 left

I read every line before it goes up, usually within a day or two. Use any name at all, or none. Never your real surname, never a town, never anything that could identify you or your children.

It is with me. I read every one myself, and yours will be up in a day or two.

Four times a year, the wall goes on paper

Every season I gather the best of each subject and set it properly: the nights, money, court, work, the kids, starting over, small wins, and the words worth keeping. It goes out as one quiet letter, and it goes in every seasonal parcel.

It is free, it arrives four times a year and never otherwise, and there is nothing in it but the wall.

An email address, and that is all.

Four letters a year. Nothing else, ever, and you can leave with one reply.

Done. The next one comes at the turn of the season.

How this stays a safe place

Nothing appears here until I have read it. There are no replies, no profiles, no way to message anyone, and no way for anyone to find you from a line you wrote.

Use any name you like or none at all. Please never put a surname, a town, a school, a workplace, or anything about your children that could identify them.

This is a wall, not a support group. If you are in crisis, call or text 988 in the United States. If you are in danger, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline on 1-800-799-7233. Both are free, both are open all night, and neither will think you are overreacting.