Ohio woman grew up receiving handwritten letters from her father. Now he and other dads are writing to over 1,000 people across the globe.
Beginning in the fourth grade, 30-year-old Rosie Paulik said she grew up receiving countless handwritten letters from her father.
Over the years, she estimates she has acquired over 3,500 letters from her dad, 67-year-old Buz Ecker. Whenever she would be away at summer camp, when she left for college or even moved into her first apartment that was a mere 20 minutes away from their Cincinnati, Ohio, home, Paulik would always discover a handwritten note in her mailbox every single day.
Each letter felt like a journal entry, ranging from topics like his classes he was taking during his doctorate program that concluded this year, how proud he was when she would hit career milestones, or even just detailing his favorite Subway sandwich, Paulik said.
Paulik's 2-year-old son now also receives letters from her father, and she has saved each and every one.
Each letter features his fatherlike sense of humor -- which might include some dad jokes -- somewhere on the page, she said.
“Sometimes during the letters, my mom will talk to him out loud when he’s writing and he’ll write, 'Hold on, she’s talking to me,' and she stops talking and then he gets back into the letter," Paulik said.
But this past July, she noticed her father -- who had finally earned his Ph.D at Antioch University in January -- had become "aimless" and she could tell "he wasn't feeling great."
A few days later, after recalling all the thousands of letters she had received from him, she thought of a solution: "I wonder if complete strangers would want to receive a letter from him," she thought at the time.
So, she decided to post a TikTok, seeing if anyone would be interested in this proposition. Immediately, she received a resounding response and quickly acquired over 1,000 requests -- which as of Wednesday had grown to 1,200 requests -- for letters from her father. Thus, the Dad Letter Project, which is described as "mail that'll make you smile (or cry, in a good way)" on its website, was born, Paulik said.
"People wanted to hear from a dad. They wanted to hear from a father figure," Paulik told ABC News.
Her dad, who is spending the summer in Naubinway, Michigan, was "immediately on board," but she realized he might need help in accomplishing this task. So, they brought on three additional "Dad Staff Writers" to assist in fulfilling these requests, Paulik said.
Paulik said each submitted request is different; some are grieving the loss of their own father and others are wanting to hear a funny anecdote. She recalls one request from a third-grade teacher in West Virginia who was "asking for my dad to be the third-grade class' pen pal," she said.
"Sometimes, you just need a dad to remind you that you’re doing great, to offer unsolicited life advice, or to tell you a joke so bad you have no choice but to laugh. It’s like a hug, but on paper," the project's website said.
Regardless of the topic, Ecker -- who has been writing about 10 letters every morning since the beginning of the project -- said every letter "comes from my heart."
"I address the problems that they have as best as I can. I'm honored that they write me, and I'm happy to write them back," Ecker told ABC News.
While they are "inundated" with the amount of requests, Paulik and Ecker said they plan on continuing the project past the summer because of the "big need that we're tapping into." They have also received questions about starting a letter-writing project with mothers, which is something they are beginning to look into, Paulik said.
To receive a handwritten letter from one of the dads, Paulik said requests can be filled out on their website, where people can include their personal information, what they would like their letter to focus on and add in "anything you want the dad to know about you."
Requests will be matched with one of the dads who will personally address the letter and fund "the stamp and the postage themselves," Paulik said.
Even though he claims his hand never gets tired from all the writing, Ecker said he gives his "best shot" in every story, and if he's "not in the mood or too tired," he stops and resumes the following day.
Whether he's sending a letter to Italy, the United Kingdom or Hawaii, Ecker said he is "honored that people have opened up to me and I'm able to help them."
"I have grown so accustomed to AI recently and I think these dads bring a level of authenticity into this world. So many people don’t receive anything in the mailbox besides maybe coupons and bills. They are coming up with words to say for you, they’re putting the address on the envelope, putting a stamp on it and sending it out. It’s so authentic and special," Paulik told ABC News.
