Give the gift of human connection with holiday cards

TAMPA, Fla. - For Patricia Garrett, picking out the perfect holiday card is just as important as choosing the right gift, especially in a year where a pandemic has kept everyone separated.

"This whole thing has turned everybody's life upside down and the world too that we just have to stay close to each other", said Garrett.

Master penman Michael Sull has written some of the most memorable greeting cards. He was a letter artist for Hallmark and a calligrapher for late President Ronald Regan.

"Hallmark used to do the president's greeting cards every year for Christmas," said Sull.

Writing cards and letters is a healthy habit, especially for seniors.

"It keeps the thought process stimulated and growing, in a sense. It's like if you don't use certain aspects of your senses, you lose it," said Sull. "It brings back the old days for a lot of them and gives them a lot of pleasure of how things were."

Handwritten greetings are also priceless across family generations.

"Getting handwritten notes from them is invaluable. It's a touch. It's a physical contact of those people that are so special," said Sull. "Everybody likes to have a handwritten note come to them in the mail. It recognizes the fact that someone took the time to actually consider them, the recipient, to handwrite that and to receive it, it's special."

Something as simple as pen-to-paper could deliver a gift that we could all use right now.

"One word: love. Love is very important. Family, friends, neighbors reach out. Don't close doors," said Garrett.