When you have lost someone, you sometimes want to say or write something. You can still send letters, cards or a drawing in three new mailboxes at cemeteries in the municipality of Heusden. “The first letter has already been deposited in the letterbox,” says grief therapist and initiator Willemien Jobsen from Drunen.
When Willemien Jobsen was asked about her professional opinion in an interview about the ‘Heavenpost’ initiative a year ago, a seed was also planted for her. “After that, the idea stayed in the back of my mind. Together with cemetery manager Marco Muskens, we then made the plan to also realize ‘Post to heaven’ at the three municipal cemeteries within the municipality of Heusden. And they are there now.”
“Hemelpost is there for everyone who misses a deceased loved one. That can be a grandfather or grandmother, but also a pet,” says Willemien. “Mourning is love that has lost its address. Writing letters, or making a drawing, to a loved one who has passed away can help with the grieving process. Even though the address is ‘heaven’, you can still tell your story this way.”
“The mailboxes at the three cemeteries are regularly emptied,” says administrator Marco Muskens, who carefully and unopened the mail. “On World Lights Day, the second Sunday in December, the letters are burned in a fire pit. In this way they symbolically go to heaven, to the person for whom the mail is intended.”
Muskens emphasizes that everyone can use the letterbox. “This celestial station is not just for loved ones buried in these general cemeteries. The mailboxes are there for anyone who wants to post a thought or drawing to a deceased.” Next to the three mailboxes at the cemeteries in Vlijmen, Heusden and Drunen are signs with text and explanation.
Letterboxes for ‘Post to Heaven’ are still present at very few cemeteries in Brabant, in November 2015 funeral agency Fiddelaers from Heeze already placed a ‘Heavenpost’ mailbox in its own funeral home.
“It’s still there,” says an employee of the company. “It’s still being used.” Just like with the mailboxes in the cemeteries in the municipality of Heusden, relatives can still post a letter or drawing to their loved ones in the Fiddelaers funeral home.
The mailboxes in the Netherlands are also located in Ens (Flevoland), Driehuis (North Holland and Lochem (Gelderland)).