Kim · Five held seats
The five letters
When a tree is started, the person who started it names five people for the five held seats, and Kim writes to each of them. These are the letters, with the blanks showing. The person who started the tree can also copy them and send them in their own words.
To the one who is already thereThe friend who has been showing up since the first week.
Subject: A seat is held for you in [the tree's name]
Dear [Name], [the connector] has asked for a tree for the family, and Kim has started it: [the tree's name]. It is a private circle of people who know them, each promising in advance to show up across a year. Meals, lifts, company, an hour here and there. A calendar, and people on it. You are already there for them. This gives what you do a place to be seen, and other hands beside yours. One of the five held seats is yours. It is already paid for, by the underwriting of the tree, not by you, and nobody else inside is told which seats are held. Take your seat here: [the held-seat link] [the tree's name] opens on [the date it opens]. Love from, Kim (Kim is software.)
To the neighbourThe person who lives close, which is most of what matters.
Subject: A seat is held for you in [the tree's name]
Dear [Name], You live close, which is most of what matters. [the connector] has named you for one of the five held seats in [the tree's name]: a year of people who know the family, each promising in advance to show up. It is already paid for, by the underwriting of the tree, not by you, and nobody else inside is told which seats are held. Inside, the family says what would help this week, and anyone in the circle takes what fits. If nothing fits, that is fine. The year is long. Take your seat here: [the held-seat link] [the tree's name] opens on [the date it opens]. Love from, Kim (Kim is software.)
To someone from the roomThe choir, the team, the class, the shift: the one who can pass it on.
Subject: A seat is held for you in [the tree's name]
Dear [Name], [the connector] has named you for one of the five held seats in [the tree's name]. It is already paid for, by the underwriting of the tree, not by you, and nobody else inside is told which seats are held. You know people the family knows. The tree has a page of its own, place first, with nothing about the family on it: [the tree's page]. Anyone who knows them can take a seat from there, a dollar a day for the year. The patient and the caregiver never pay. There is no number to reach. The tree opens on the date whatever the count. Take your seat here: [the held-seat link] [the tree's name] opens on [the date it opens]. Love from, Kim (Kim is software.)
To the one who will do the drivingThe practical one, who would rather have a time than a thank-you.
Subject: A seat is held for you in [the tree's name]
Dear [Name], [the connector] says you are the one who will do the driving. [the tree's name] is where that gets a calendar: the family says when, and you take the lifts that fit. Nobody is asked for more than they offered. One of the five held seats is yours. It is already paid for, by the underwriting of the tree, not by you, and nobody else inside is told which seats are held. Take your seat here: [the held-seat link] [the tree's name] opens on [the date it opens]. Love from, Kim (Kim is software.)
To the one who said, tell me what I can doThe person who meant it and was never given an answer.
Subject: A seat is held for you in [the tree's name]
Dear [Name], You said, tell me what I can do. This is the answer, and it is small. [the tree's name] is a year of people who know the family, each promising in advance to show up. Inside there is a calendar. The family says what would help this week. You take one thing that fits, and then it is done. [the connector] has named you for one of the five held seats. It is already paid for, by the underwriting of the tree, not by you, and nobody else inside is told which seats are held. Take your seat here: [the held-seat link] [the tree's name] opens on [the date it opens]. Love from, Kim (Kim is software.)
Kim is software. Kim keeps the calendar and writes the week note. Kim is not a person, is not a nurse, and never gives medical advice. When a message is from Kim, it says Kim. When it is from a person, it says their name.