Message in a box

A thought occurred to me last week that I decided to try. I've been looking for a way to communicate with my niece. She's 10, and spends a lot of her time worrying about her siblings and her dad. I wanted her to have a safe place to worry about herself. So I wrote her a letter and bought a decorative shoebox. In it I placed a notepad and pen. I took her to lunch and read the letter aloud. Essentially saying that this was a way for her to write down her thoughts, important things that happened to her that day, or even things she wished she could tell her mom, or ask her mom. I said that I'd read the letters and their contents would be our secret. I'll check the box each time I go over and leave her notes too. Trying to answer any questions in a way that I think her mom would have... Two days after giving her the box, she'd written one note. I left her one in turn (when she wasn't looking) When I saw her today, she said that she'd gotten my note. She had a big smile on her face. I'm hoping that this is the start of a long line of communication.