There are few things more important to a prison wife than staying in touch with her husband. But with the recent move to end physical mail in prisons, it’s becoming a little more complicated to write.

As the use of physical mail in prisons continues to decline, prison wives and families are turning to e-mails to stay connected with their loved ones. While some may see this as a positive development, others worry about the lack of touch and intimacy. This is my case and as I really deplore this radical change, however, we now have to deal with it.

There are a number of reasons why e-mailing is not always the preferred method of communication for prison wives. First, holding a paper that contains the handwriting of your loved ones, their smell, is simply irreplaceable.  Secondly, it is increasingly expensive to send e-mails to prisons.
However, many prisons have restrictions on what types of limited mail can be sent to inmates, they go through 3rd party companies… making it more difficult to send letters and cards. There is also the simple fact that most people now communicate electronically, and prison wives, families and pen pals are no different – especially if writing from overseas.

As a cardmaker, it is incredibly frustrating for me that the cards I create – usually with my husband in mind as he is my main inspiration, are cards he will now be unable to see…
Well, or so I thought at first… Because I recently started to send them to him electronically.

E-cards are not my favorites but they offer a number of advantages over traditional mail. They are cheaper to send, and there are less restrictions on what can be sent. In addition, they can be sent instantaneously, which means we prison wives can stay in touch with our loved ones more easily.

So, how can we turn to e-cards? Websites that offer free e-cards – same issue as greeting cards – rarely fit the situation of having an incarcerated husband and/or friend. You might find sites that offers a wide variety of e-cards but they might not respect the JPay, Access Corrections, etc. rules, the format (and so the conditions to go through and not be rejected either by the institutional e-mail provider or the prison staff)  plus you want to be able to find the perfect card, whether it’s funny, romantic, or just a simple hello!

So I am launching my own e-cards! The same way I was hoping to help with my greeting cards (still available and if your loved ones’ facility still accept them, lucky you!) when I started Sweet Undertone, I hope my shop will allow you to find the perfect e-card for your loved one!

 

And for those who don’t want to send a greeting card to a 3rd party shredder but still want to use paper in the facilities the mail is copied and given in paper, I am also launching printable versions of some of my cards: