"Letter writing is the only device for combining solitude with good company," wrote the quite gregarious poet Lord Byron. If you have been subjected to more than your share of solitude this year, your are indeed in good company. As most of the civilized world has spent the spring under lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, isolation has become the "new normal." For years, a sports club by the English Channel has been a friend to those in need. The Brighton Table Tennis Club (BTTC) has developed numerous social outreach programs, working with vulnerable populations including refugees, prisoners, at-risk children, persons with disabilities, and those experiencing hunger and homelessness. Now, the loneliness and fear which they and many others face daily are compounded by the pandemic. While the club is responsibly observing the lockdown, they have stayed in touch with their members through online chat groups, even organizing food collection and distribution for those in need. Now, the BTTC has performed arguably its greatest miracle yet: reviving the lost art of handwritten correspondence. According to their website, "BTTC volunteers have sent out over a thousand colourful cards of hope in the last 6 weeks to friends of the club including many that are in prison." The cards feature happy pictures of pre-pandemic club activities by BTTC shutterbug Alexis Maryon. Each missive bears a personalized handwritten message. "I was so thrilled to receive a postcard from the club," replied one member. "I miss playing there and the mix of lovely people who are so kind and supportive. I can’t wait to get back to the club again – and seeing everybody." As poet and isolation expert Emily Dickinson wrote, "A letter always seemed to me like immortality because it is the mind alone without corporeal friend." The Brighton Table Tennis Club continues to remind us that we have limitless opportunities to be good friends and good company to others. Even, and perhaps especially, in solitude.

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