The journal will be a record of your personal thoughts and observations about each correspondence. You may write in the journal immediately after completing the letter and again after receiving your grandchild's letter, or you may just write in the journal after you receive your grandchild's letter. This will vary with each letter. Your reactions may either be written in a notebook or recorded on an audio-cassette tape.

Direct your comments to your grandchild as though he or she is now an adult. Imagine him or her now as a grown-up, sitting and reading your works, feeling close to you, despite the passage of many years. The journal is like a time capsule, a precious record of you to be appreciated by an adult grandchild.

At the end of your correspondence program, make a copy of the journal for yourself, if you wish, and give the original to the child's parents for safekeeping. Ask the parents to keep the journal in a safe place and to present it to your grandchild when he or she reaches adulthood and can appreciate this record of a grandparent's interest and affection.

The scrapbooks are samples of work and thought that both you and your grandchild can appreciate immediately. The journal is a personal record of your thoughts and feelings about a variety of issues, an opportunity for you to reveal what you believe to be important to a grandchild when he or she reaches adulthood.

Both the scrapbook and journal will be special treasures with lasting value. They will bring you closer to your grandchild and keep you in contact with him or her as time goes by. This program will help you and your grandchild build a firm and lasting relationship despite the distance that separates you.