In September of 1860, a 29-year-old Emily Dickinson wrote these lines in a letter to her beloved first cousins, “Fanny and Loo” (Frances and Louisa Norcross). The teenagers (then 18 and 13, respectively) lived in Boston, and were already some of Emily’s best friends, to whom she would send much correspondence — including poems — until her death in 1886.

When I came across this quote, I was struck by the tender, intimate, and urging tone of these lines. From core family relationships to larger human circles, Dickinson’s words are both an invitation to keep connected with each other and a charge to keep watch over each other. The world is small, and it is huge; we are resilient, and we are vulnerable; and we are safest in each others’ care-full hands.

Thinking of the many teenagers (and younger) who, because of circumstances beyond their control, find themselves crossing borders alone, I am donating part of the proceeds of each print’s sale to K.I.N.D. (Kids In Need of Defense), a non-profit that provides legal aid to unaccompanied minors entering the United States in search of safety.

Tuck this print into a notecard to an old friend; slip it into a simple frame; post it on the family fridge — remind those you hold dear (and yourself) how important they are. As Emily Dickinson wrote in that same letter to her young cousins 165 years ago, “I know you both better than I did, and love you both better, and always I have a chair for you in the smallest parlor in the world, to wit, my heart.”

Production details:

• Hand-set in 18pt Arrighi and 12pt Centaur metal typefaces (cast by M&H Type Foundry).

• Letterpress printed in warm brown ink on thick, creamy cotton paper with a 116-year-old foot-treadled press.

• Each print is hand-dipped with rose- and peach-tinted watercolor inks.

• Size is 5” tall and 4” wide (fits into most notecard envelopes, for easy mailing to friends and family).

• $8 each (of which $2 will be donated to K.I.N.D.)

The photograph below is of Emily Dickinson in 1847 — when she herself was a teenager of 17.