Overwhelming Thanks

Most days when I get the mail I wish that I had an auto button that could just send the contents from the post box to the trashcan.  Today was a rare one in the world of my mailbox.  When I flipped open the door I could see multiple envelopes with hand written addresses.  At first I wondered if I had agreed to some old-fashioned recipe exchange or pen pal club.

As I began to flip through pile I counted not just a couple, but six real letters.  I opened each one to discover they were all thank you notes for five different events.  One was a thank you from my sorority for a recommendation, one for a lunch for a friend’s birthday, two for a dinner I hosted, one from a friend at church and the last from a friend I brought lunch to.  It was an embarrassment of thanks.

Each thank you was lovely on their own, but somehow feel magnified by getting so many at once and for such varied things.  It makes me worry that I have let so many things people have done for me go by unthanked.

I am sure that there are no less than three people a day that do something for me or for some organization I work with that I should thank with an actual hand written note.  I’m quick to send off an e-mail or worse yet a text, but that just does not have the same impact as a real-stationary-put-a-stamp-on-it-and-mail-it-note.  Based on the way this gaggle of thank you’s made me feel I am committing to writing at least three thank you notes a week, even if it is just for a kind word someone has said to me.

I hound my child about writing her thank you notes, but I myself need to follow my own advice.  So often I will think good thoughts about someone, but not tell them personally.  Of course lots of people make this blog so they get some public thank you, if they read it.  But certainly that is a passive way of expressing gratitude.  The world would just be a better place if we all were a lot more appreciative of every kindness shown us.

My Grandmother Mima was a great thanker.  The smallest act always elicited a note from her that made me feel very special.  I wish she were still alive for me to tell her how much she contributed to my self esteem and thank her for being such a great role model.  Carter’s Godfather, David is also a world-class thank you note writer.  He has a way of lifting up something small and making you feel it was a monumental act.

To anyone who is reading this I want to say thanks.  The fact that I have readers keeps me disciplined to keep writing and sticking to a healthy program.  To anyone who has ever done a thing for me, I’m sorry if my thank you is late.  I’m going to try to do better in the future.