Thanks Dayton! 713 cards sent for 105-year-old's b-day

The Dayton area turned to snail mail in a big way after we told you about a request to honor Fairborn's Ruby Evangeline Wells Nicholson on May 27, her 105th birthday.

I wrote  that blog after catching word of Joberta E. Wells' Facebook post asking that birthday cards be sent to Ruby, Joberta's first cousin.

Joberta, a firecracker and columnist from Yosemite, Ky., made a similar request for Ruby's 104th birthday and that resulted in 50 cards.

I was hoping we could help Ruby get 105 cards for her 105th birthday.

You had bigger ideas.

A whopping 713 birthday cards - everything you can imagine - ended up in Ruby's mailbox.

Jane said her mom was blown away by the response, and read each and every one of the cards.

"It was an illustration of the kindness of people and how the kindness of strangers  can make someone's day better,"  Jane said. "And it did."

The bulk of the cards came from the Dayton area, but there were a few from Italy and Germany. Many included personal messages and decorations.

Jane, her mom's official card opener, said  Ruby wishes she would have kept a tally of things like how often "God bless you" and "wow" were used in the message and the types of stamps used.

"Some people went out of their way to create the cards," Jane said. "People were really kind to mother, really thoughtful."

At least four classes −  kindergarten, junior high, third grade and fourth grade − sent Ruby cards.

Jane said she normally ignores requests like the one made for her mother.

No more.

She knows how powerful reaching out can be.

"It really has meant as lot for mother," she said.

Contact this blogger at amelia.robinson@coxinc.com or Twitter.com/DDNSmartMouth