A Well Place Thank You

I love mail.  I love letters and charity solicitations.  I love Christmas cards and birthday cards, any kind of card.  But I think my most favorite is the Thank You note.  I love to know that the present arrived, that it was perfect and that the recipient was overjoyed!  When my nephew was little, he would send these pre filled out cards that only required him to fill in the present name and sign his name.  At the tender age of three, he was already part taking in the act of gratitude.  I tried to be good about having my own children write thank you notes.  Sometimes I think pulling teeth would have been easier. 
when I was a newly married woman, I was not much for thank you notes, yet.  I had never really been the giver of gifts at this point so I didn't really understand that people expected notes in a timely manner.  And by timely, I was thinking the twelve months that the wedding magazine said.  By timely, my mom was thinking, now.  She hounded me daily until those notes were in the mail.  After that embarrassing start, I have tried to be more prompt with my notes.
After Ashlyn was born, I wrote that note immediately.  I was smart enough to know that with a new baby in the house, putting something off til later was not a good idea.  My laters were usually pretty full of cooing and such so thank yous were done on the spot!
After Ashlyn got sick, it became nearly impossible to keep up with the thank yous.  It is really hard to thank the anonymous donor of money and donut holes in between the front doors.  So we did the best we could, but often had to resort to blanket thanks yous at the end of the Ashlyn Alert emails that I sent out.  Though not quite what Emily Post had in mind, given the circumstances, I hoped it was ok.
Now that my own children are older and two are on their own, I pray that my mother in heaven sends angelic reminders to write thank you notes.  I hope this one still at home understands that no one is obligated to send him gas money, so a thank you note in the mail goes a long way towards more unexpected gas money.  I hope they all realize that gratitude is such an important trait.  And being able to sincerely express that is appreciated by the recipient. 
I had mentioned this story in a previous blog, but it ties in well here, too.  I had made a cake for a young woman at the shelter during the same time that Ashlyn was going through treatment.  This young woman found out about Ashlyn and sent me a thank you note for the cake.  She was so appreciative of the cake, especially considering the circumstances in my life.  That note meant so much.   Yep, my most favorite is the Thank You note.