The Thinker’s

My dad, Jimbo, and I have this thing that we do.

We place one finger on our chin, look up as if we were deep in thought, snap a selfie, and send it to each other.

It all started when I went to college. He would send me a selfie — in the pose described above — with a quick text: "Jimbo thinking about how he misses Gracebo." I would send one back in the same pose: "Gracebo thinking about how she misses Jimbo more." Flash forward five years later, and we are still sending what we eventually started calling the Thinker's Pose.

It always seemed so small and ordinary, but it wasn't.

It became our tradition. Something we were known for. Something we always looked forward to.

Friends joined in. Teammates. Family. Strangers. Everyone became a Thinker.

Everyone started thinking about someone — and letting that person know it.

When my dad was diagnosed with brain cancer, I asked my followers on social media to send me their best Thinking Pose for Jimbo, to give him the strength that he needed.

The response was overwhelming. People who had never met him. People I had never met.

Everyone had a finger on their chin, looking up — with a one-liner about how they were thinking of and rooting for Jimbo.

An entire poster board was covered in these photos and hung up in his hospital room.

That was when we both truly understood what Thinkers was all about: a simple way to show someone you love them, and make sure they know it.

Jimbo beat brain cancer — and while he still faces challenges in the aftermath, he beat it.

Thinker's continues to make us both smile, especially when we need it most.

As a way to carry on the tradition between us and keep including everyone around us, I am starting Thinker's Snail Mail.

Every month, I create an original print ( Jimbo is my biggest art fan) and mail it straight to a fellow Thinker's door. His face is stamped on every envelope, in the Thinking Pose that started it all. So wherever the envelope goes, he goes too.

One print. One quick line about what I was thinking. And the first one always goes to him.