About the Stepfamily Letter Project

In the Fall of 2008, Erin  wrote an open-ended letter to her stepdaughter on her blog. The letter was filled with things Erin wished she could say to her12-year-old stepdaughter but didn’t. From future hopes and dreams to the intricacies of teenage angst, the letter was one stepmom’s heartfelt approach to communicate with her stepdaughter without actually “communicating.”  The letter went on to capture the attention of other stepmoms across the Internet.

One of those stepmoms, Jacque, had heard of The Mother Letter Project, a compilation of letters that a husband has been collecting his for wife as a Christmas present.

The letters, written for mothers, could be about anything so long as it was addressed to a mom. At the same time, Jacque popped open her computer to begin her annual holiday letter to her family. Each year Jacque, her husband, and her three stepkids write a letter to each other that describes the previous year’s ups and downs and hopes for the upcoming year. Then they read them out loud to each other. It’s a tradition that Jacque’s dad and stepmom started when Jacque was a teenage stepkid.

And so an idea was born. Why not create a site where blended families could write anonymous letters to a member of their family. Stepmoms, stepdads, stepkids, husbands, bio-moms, half-siblings – we wanted to create a place where blended families could write letters to the people in their families  – be it heartful and  joyful to angry or sad.

We’ll keep the authors of each letter we post a secret. Whether you want to share them with your family members is up to you. All you have to do is write a letter (or several) is check out the submission guidelines.

Disclaimer: Neither Erin nor Jacque are trained therapists. We are stepfamily members ourselves and writers, but we are not in the counseling business. The letters you see on this site are from real people in real stepfamilies. If you find the letters are bringing up particularly strong feelings for you, we highly recommend that you seek the help of a certified stepfamily professional.