95-Year-Old Widower, gets over 15,000 cards from strangers around the world after death of wife, who loved Christmas
By Mike-Ross
While many people adore the holiday season, others dread it.
After her mother died, Suzan Brito’s father found the holidays extremely difficult. His wife lived for Christmas and with her gone, everyone’s spirits were dampened.
Brito had the perfect idea to cheer her father up: Christmas cards and lots of them!
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For the past nine years George Dowling has had a difficult time navigating life during the month of December. In 2013 his wife Lucille, who he was married to for 70 years, died after a battle with Alzheimer’s.
She loved Christmas, and not having her around during her favorite time of the year was devastating.
“She was Christmas,” Dowling, 95, told The Washington Post. “She did everything big; all the cooking and baking.”
The first Christmas without Lucille, Brito and Dowling cancelled the holiday.
They took down their Christmas tree, which Lucille always decorated the day after Thanksgiving, and didn’t celebrate the holiday.
“My father couldn’t handle it,” she said.
Brito lives with her father, who is a World War II veteran, and is his primary caretaker.
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The following year as December 1st approached, she tried to think of ways to cheer her father up. Since her father loved receiving mail she reached out to friends and family on Facebook and asked if they could send a Christmas card.
He received about 30.
“It carried him through the whole month of December.”
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Since then she’s continued to put out a plea for cards.
“My friends, our family, they would send a few every year which he loved,” Brito told WJAR. “Last year it was 14, and he was sad last year. It didn’t carry him through the holiday season.”
After last year’s less than stellar turnout, Brito turned to social media a little earlier than usual. Her daughter also lent a hand by sharing her grandfather’s story on TikTok.
The first day the cards trickled in, but then they came pouring in to his Rhode Island residence.
As of December 12th, Dowling has received over 15,000 cards according to Brito’s daughter Charlene Fletcher.
“It’s so heartwarming,” she said.
“These people, I can’t even thank them enough. He gets so sad and this just perks him up,” Brito said of her father. “It’s just amazing.”
“Thank you for everything. Thank you for writing,” Dowling said of all of the cards he’s received. “People are responsive, they’re really nice.”
Cards can be sent to:
George Dowling
64 Harris Street
Pawtucket, Rhode Island
02861
Please share this story on Facebook and encourage your friends and family to reach out to those who may be struggling this holiday season.
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