A Letter for the 18th Birthday
The thing you want to say on the day they become legally not yours.
The 18th birthday is the legal one. They can sign a lease, get a tattoo, vote, enlist. The card aisle at the grocery store has nothing for this. A real letter does.
Write the letter now — we hold it sealed and mail it on the morning of the birthday. Any date in the next two years.
What to Write About
The five things this letter can do that no card can
- — Witness who they were before they were 18 (most of their teen years they will lose track of)
- — State what you trust them to be, in your own voice, on paper they keep
- — Tell them the story about themselves at 4 you have never told them
- — Say what you wish someone had told you at 18
- — Hand off something that does not require them to respond — just to read
Simple Pricing
One payment. No subscription.
Mail-in Handwritten
$19
Handwrite it, mail to us, we store sealed and mail on their 18th.
Start HandwrittenFrequently Asked
I want to write a letter now for their 18th birthday — but they are turning 18 in 5 years. Can you hold it?
Our current delivery window caps at two years out. So if they turn 18 in five years, we are not the right fit yet — we are working on longer storage windows but they are not built. If they turn 18 in the next two years, we are perfect.
What should I write?
What you want them to know on the morning they are legally not yours anymore — the things you have been waiting to say without making it weird, the version of them you saw when they were small, what you trust them to be from here. Skip the advice. Lean into the witness.
Should it be handwritten or typed?
Handwritten is the version they will keep in a drawer for forty years. If your handwriting is hard to read, type it. Either way, the letter on cream paper with a wax seal is more permanent than any card.
Should both parents write one?
Often the strongest version. Each parent writes their own, sealed separately, delivered on the same day. They open one, then the other.
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