Thank You Cards

I just want to thank my blog readers (sis and bro-in-law and kids) for sticking with me.  I think it’s important to be grateful and to express your thanks.  But I have a tricky relationship with “thank you cards.”  Getting a note in the mail is special nowadays.   I remember when I was little and would write letters to friends, and family, and they would write me back.  I even had a pen pal from Australia.  AND we wrote letters with pencils and paper and stuck them in paper envelopes, and licked that sticky part of the envelope. One time, I even got creative with my letter and put a bunch of one cent stamps on the envelope (to decorate the envelope while stamping it at the same time) because I did cute things way before Pinterest was invented, and that letter came back to me because apparently the post office didn’t know about Pinterest ideas yet, and they wouldn’t accept it.  We all have fond memories of getting a special handwritten letter in the mail.   Those hand written notes have become rarer.   Except, I feel like people are still hanging on to handwritten” thank you” notes.  I should be happy, but I’ve discovered that they are somewhat anticlimactic.  Just picture this…I go to open my mail box, and there it is, a beautiful, little, rectangular envelope with my name and address written across the middle!  I take it out of the box, and into the house, and make sure I’m alone so that I can enjoy this moment.  I carefully open the envelope and then close it again.  Am I dreaming?  Do I really have a handwritten letter in my hand in 2016? I put the letter down, just to ponder on this fact.   I decide not to read it just yet.   For the rest of the day, I've got an extra pep in my step, knowing what awaits me.  By that evening, I decide the time is right.  Then I grab the letter again.  I’m ready.  I open the envelope, and ever so carefully I pull out the delicate card.  I close my eyes and picture what the inside will say.  Then I take a deep breath and open it, and read, “Thank for the diapers.  They will come in handy.  Love- Becky.”  And not only was that note anticlimactic, but it reminded me of what a boring gift giver I am.  Recently, I got a thank you card for a wedding I attended.  That card said, “Thanks for the candle.  It’s so nice in our home.”  You wasted ink and paper on that “thank you”?  You might as well have added, “And we’re really grateful that you didn’t spend that much money on us because you’ve taught us a great lesson on being cheap, I mean, frugal.  And that’s a good lesson for newlyweds.  Love- Jack and Jill” And honestly, I’m pretty sure that I gave them a basket with a candle included in it.  But the candle was the only thing that made it on the card.  Ouch! Thanks for letting me vent blog readers.  I’m really grateful to you.