97-year-old veteran sends hundreds of homemade cards to loved ones; neighbors cant get enough
WAKEFIELD, R.I. (WJAR) — While most people enjoy receiving cards in the mail, a Wakefield veteran loves to send them.
Hassan Salley, 97, who is a veteran, has always loved to send cards to people.
His wife, who passed away with Alzheimer's, was always the creative one, and for the past four years, he's taken things into his own hands.
“I’m just old fashioned and I know it," said Salley. “People are not accustomed to sending letters and cards for some reason you know, they may text you but to me a card, it’s showing your feeling and love for somebody else."
Before moving to Wakefield with his daughter Nadine and her husband, Hassan developed a friendship with a waitress at a restaurant in New Hampshire.
When COVID hit, and he couldn't go out to buy a card to send to her, they became pen pals.
“They wrote back and forth. He was telling her, 'I can’t get to the store, I can’t buy cards, I can’t send all the birthday cards, the anniversary cards, to all my family members, it’s really bothering me.' So, lone behold, she sends this package with blank cards," said Nadine Salley, Hassan's daughter.
“From what I wrote, I think she got the idea that I needed to have something to do. I was kind of lost, I had a lot of time," said Salley. “I just sat at my desk and started coloring I said, 'Gee, I love to do this.''
From there, things took off.
For years, Salley has been keeping track of all important dates in a little black book he keeps nearby.
It has birthdays, anniversaries and major milestones he wishes to remember so that he can send a card.
“Every other day I just look to remind myself because I can’t remember without looking," he said.
Salley was hooked on the homemade cards his friend sent him.
They're blank, and need to be colored in, it was a task he took very seriously.
“The toughest part is choosing the colors," he said. “At the time I’m doing it, I’m thinking of the person it’s going to and hoping they’re receive it in good faith."
After sending a few out, he grew to love his homemade cards.
“He did about four packages of cards that was about 120 and then he now is on to these new ones," said Nadine. “He shows us each card and he’s proud of what he’s doing and hoping the person he sends it too will like it too."
That is the case for all of his recipients.
In fact, besides friends and family, he recently started taking mental notes about his neighbors.
According to them, Hassan is always walking around their gated community, and is well-loved by everyone.
“This is a new home and Hassan was the first person we met when we came to check on the construction, that was maybe about 14 months ago," said Sally Mitchell.
“He goes for walks on a daily basis and if we’re sitting on our porch, he’s such a gentleman, he feels like he has a responsibility to come over and say hi," added Sally's husband, Bob.
Many months ago, the Mitchells had a conversation with Salley at their community center.
They told him they were expecting their 7th grandchild.
Of course, he made it a priority to remember.
“His daughter brought us a card over. We opened the card she proceeded to give us the history of the card, which is hand colored and hand written by Hassan," said Bob. “This crazy world that we live in right now, to receive something that. He takes the time to articulate and color the card and he writes in beautiful cursive. For him to take the time to do that in this day and age, when we get text messages and emails, is really a nice thing.”
“Hassan is an inspiration to all of us. To see a fit veteran walking regularly and saying hello and making these gestures of kindness it’s just inspirational," added Sally. “It was just so touching and so emotional. He’s 97 and handwritten cards and handwritten notes are sort of a thing of the past and so it was deeply meaningful. He’s such a great person."
“It’s not just us it’s a matter of practice. There are others in the neighborhood," she added.
Patti Sicord also met Hassan when she first moved in next door.
“He’s just a wonderful charming person and just very interested in people. "Very hospitable and genuine person," said Sicord. "In June for his birthday I gave him a gift, a bottle of wine and he wrote me a handwritten card back thanking me for that gift.”
Sicord said it had been a while since she received a homemade card.
She was shocked.
“Most people just say 'thank you' and it’s ok to just say thank you when you give someone something but just the thoughtfulness of getting a handwritten card or a handwritten thank you is not normal these days," she said. “That somebody took the time to do that is very special."
Salley said he plans to continue to send his cards, especially with the holidays approaching.
He has a long list of people to send them to.
He's got 9 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
“While I’m doing them to me there’s a good feeling in me that I’m doing something good for somebody else," he said. “Those two words of thank you is a big thing. When they tell me they enjoyed the card, and they thank me for them, I see that it's worth doing it."