A greeting card with two red heart stickers inside, surrounded by lace and paper with floral patterns.

Surprise Post 

Unexpected moments of surprise throughout the year.

Imagine receiving a beautifully crafted envelope in your mailbox, containing a touching story paired with an original postcard drawing – a personal, poetic surprise that arrives not just once, but 6 times over the course of a year.

Gift someone this Surprise Post:
6 stories x 6 illustrations

for € 54

Stories available in English or Dutch.

A watercolor illustration of two adults and a child standing around a large teacup filled with tea on a saucer, with a chocolate bar on the saucer.

Chokotoff

At the funeral, I read the letter aloud. I talk about the Chokotoffs and the way Grandpa used to hide chocolates in the nurses’ coat pockets as a surprise.

Especially the ones who were on a diet but still had a soft spot for chocolate. He found so much joy in that. Oh yes … His playful spirit was really contagious.

(…)

A pencil drawing of an adult hand holding a child's hand.

Lucky Charm

If I could take something small from her sewing room?” I ask my grandmother quietly. A little keepsake, a lucky charm, perhaps.

I’m sitting on her sofa—the one where she takes her afternoon naps, where she reads the newspaper and the gossip magazines. It’s the spot from where she can keep an eye out for Grandpa’s brother, her neighbor and fellow widower. If he’s awake yet, so she can bring him a bowl of fresh soup through the hedge.

(…)

Watercolor painting of two people embracing inside a large hourglass.

Gate B - 26

I hug Peter, and for a brief moment, my mind flashes back to my own father, rushing back from France, only to arrive too late to say goodbye to my grandfather. That sense of helplessness, of time slipping away too fast, comes rushing back.

(…)

A watercolor painting of a child sitting on a ruler, viewed from behind, with a mostly blank background.

Beautiful Boy

A few lessons later, I find him again, sitting on a bench at the playground, his eyes wide as he gazes up at a mural of colorful geometric shapes. I sit beside him, and he turns to me, asking in that soft voice of wonder, “Miss, do you like this?”

“Very much,” I answer, and he whispers back, “Me too.”

I look at his face, full of curiosity and awe, and I see it—this little budding mathematician, little engineer, already noticing patterns in the world around him.

(…)

Illustrations by Sarah Van de Voorde

What People Are Saying

  • I always get such a warm feeling when I read your stories. They’re so beautiful and so real.

  • And wow — my love for your writing grows every single time.

  • In these dark times, this really gives strength to the heart.

  • I love reading you. Goosebumps. Every time.

  • Truly heartwarming. Thank you for sharing your stories and those beautiful illustrations.

  • Your stories ares so deeply moving.