Goodbye 2019
The sun met me, rising in the East when I took Hannah out. The last sunrise of the decade, it spoke of troubled years and delightful ones as it appeared in rosy red blushes on fluffy gray clouds. I watched until it had turned golden, flooding the land with a sudden warmth and promise.
"Goodbye 2019", it whispered, " look forward to tomorrow, 2020."
My Mother would be pleased. I have finished writing and posting my thank you notes for the many
thoughtful Christmas gifts I received from family and friends, before the midnight hour. Mother insisted that my sister Patty and I write thank yous for all of our gifts before the turn of the year.
They could not be generic notes saying "Thank you for the gift. I liked it", but must mention the gift by name. The note must also contain bits of news such as what we were doing in school and/or
4-H. If the gift was one of cash, such as my Dad's Uncle Russell sent (a man we girls did not even know!) we were expected to tell him what we intended to buy with his gift.
In other words, we needed to put much thought into these notes , since the gift-givers had most likely done when choosing gifts for us.
I tried to instill this behavior in my own children. In this age of e/mail I guess sending the thanks that way would be considered acceptable. It is faster and forgoes the cost of the stamp. I sent two
thank-yous by e/m myself this year. Yet there is something more personal in the hand-written thank you note, though the same wording is used . Perhaps it is simply the number of years I have been writing them, or the warm feeling I sense when I open an actual, paper envelope containing such a note?
This year I admit to typing my notes. I wanted the receiver to be able to read them and my handwriting has suffered the crippling of time. I did hand write my name in signing them though.
I envisioned each person as I wrote to them. I felt a closeness that no longer exists in today's life.
I feel good, having finished them "on time".
"Goodbye 2019", it whispered, " look forward to tomorrow, 2020."
My Mother would be pleased. I have finished writing and posting my thank you notes for the many
thoughtful Christmas gifts I received from family and friends, before the midnight hour. Mother insisted that my sister Patty and I write thank yous for all of our gifts before the turn of the year.
They could not be generic notes saying "Thank you for the gift. I liked it", but must mention the gift by name. The note must also contain bits of news such as what we were doing in school and/or
4-H. If the gift was one of cash, such as my Dad's Uncle Russell sent (a man we girls did not even know!) we were expected to tell him what we intended to buy with his gift.
In other words, we needed to put much thought into these notes , since the gift-givers had most likely done when choosing gifts for us.
I tried to instill this behavior in my own children. In this age of e/mail I guess sending the thanks that way would be considered acceptable. It is faster and forgoes the cost of the stamp. I sent two
thank-yous by e/m myself this year. Yet there is something more personal in the hand-written thank you note, though the same wording is used . Perhaps it is simply the number of years I have been writing them, or the warm feeling I sense when I open an actual, paper envelope containing such a note?
This year I admit to typing my notes. I wanted the receiver to be able to read them and my handwriting has suffered the crippling of time. I did hand write my name in signing them though.
I envisioned each person as I wrote to them. I felt a closeness that no longer exists in today's life.
I feel good, having finished them "on time".
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