I have a friend who joked about the steps it takes to send out a birthday or thank you card.
1. Think about getting the card. 2. Remember to get it when you’re in the store BEFORE you get to check out 3. Find the card in whatever safe place you put it in your house before the birthday 4. Write something meaningful and deep 5. Find the address AND write it on the card 6. Find a stamp AND put it on the card 7. Mail it. Preferably before the birthday or just after the event We both seem to manage all the steps at some point during the year up until the last three steps. I usually get caught up on step three; never find the card until long after the birthday or event when it’s no longer appropriate to send good wishes or thanks. I’m full of good intentions and no follow through. Saturday I went to a birthday party for two-year-old twins. Yesterday – WEDNESDAY - I received a thank you card for my attendance and gifts. The twin’s mom - I’ll call her Mary - is remarkably organized and totally on top of all the social niceties. I don’t know how she does it. She’s the mom of two-year-old twins for goodness sake! All I know is that in the short while I’ve known Mary, I’ve received thank you cards for all manner of things that I’ve done. And I’m not that nice! She’s THAT awesome and together. As they might say here in the South, “Her mother raised her right.” (And yes, I did say/think that in an exaggerated southern accent.) Mary’s not the only one. I have another friend who sends me little silly card and gifts randomly throughout the year. And another who will text me a happy thought of waffles and conversation or send a gift that reminds me of her when I smell the clean bright smell of lemons. And last week, I received THREE lovely bouquets of flowers and a plant for my show opening. I know good people. People whose folks “raised them right.” My mother raised me right too. I know the steps that should follow receiving a gift, the gracious words to write. I have the stamps, the cards, and the pens… I just don’t seem to have the follow through needed to get the card into the mailbox. I’m not sure if this is a slight rebellion to all the years we had to write thank you cards to the invisible cousins and aunts who sent us the Christmas boxes of things we ‘needed’. A direct revolt to the card countless cards I wrote that read, ‘Thank you for the pare of underware. Now everything I ware will be new.” (Misspelling intentional there, folks.) I don't know if it's that embarrassment or if it’s my current mutiny on the ‘I should…’ list that peppers my days; I should vacuum. I should finish that script. I should eat more green things. I should stop cussing. I should be nicer to Husband... I don’t know what it is that keeps my good intentions in a drawer, stamp-less and address-less. I do know is that every card I get from Mary or whomever just fills me with a little bit of light, a bouncing joy that peppers my day with happy thoughts. And I want to do that for others. I want to put a smile on a face. I want to add some sunshine to a gloomy mood. So today I dedicate myself to my ‘I Will…’ list. Today I WILL find the cards, the pens, and the stamps and, somehow find the words and I WILL send off some lightness and love in the post to folks I love… Okay, I WILL at least think about doing it and then berate myself when it doesn’t get done. That’s a step up from yesterday. And I’m all about steps – even if they don’t lead anywhere useful.
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AuthorMy name is ej. I'm a girl. I say that because with the short hair and the short initials, folks aren't always sure. More brilliant insights to who I am in About me Archives
April 2019
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