Stationary and Snail Mail
Monday, September 3rd, 2007 09:29 amLast week I came home to find not one, but two cards addressed to me in the mail. :) It's not my birthday or any other holiday, but there they were! Who doesn't love getting an honest-to-god physical card in the hand?
One was from my Aunt in CA, just a quick "thinking of you" note which was for DH too. The other was a beautiful card containing a thank you note for an email I wrote awhile ago. Heh, that seems kind of strange in this day and age, but I appreciated it because I know what an effort it is for me to do the same.
The funny thing is, I've got a whole drawer of stationary and cards for all occasions that I've collected over the years. I tend to by a handful of cards at once, whenever I'm in a cool store, and I might manage to send one of them right away, but the rest tend to languish. I take them out and look at them from time to time, and there are still a couple in there that I had before I even met DH. I'm constantly promising myself that I will start writing more. I've tried carrying blank cards around with me, so that I can jot quick notes while waiting places, but somehow that doesn't happen. I've tried carrying specific cards for specific people to make sure I get their birthday greetings sent off on time, but most of the time I end up crumpling them up in my bag and then discarding them. I quit doing the holiday card thing at the end of the year, because it was too stressful to try to get them out on time. For a few years, I switched to a "New Year's greeting." On New Year's Day, I'd sit down with my cards and write them out while watching the parades and games. Then I'd continue on through the month until I'd made it through the whole list. But that went by the wayside too. This weekend, I managed to send two cards out, but the birthday one went out on the birthday (which is actually closer to on time than since this nephew was born 5 yrs ago!) The other had been planned for at least 6 weeks.
I do stay in touch with people by phone and email and LJ, and I love the immediacy of these tools, but I also love opening an envelope addressed to me, by someone I know. It gives me such a lift. The cards always spend some time on display on the mantel or my nightstand too. I've got another drawer that contains many (not all) of the cards and notes I've received over the years. There are really pretty ones that I can recycle in some way, and really special ones either for the sentiment or because they were handmade. I love going through them too. They're physical reminders of past smiles (or tears) with the added bonus of producing more smiles. Cards really are the "gift that keeps on giving."
Just so you all know - I think about you all the time. I buy cards with you in mind, imagining the smile you'll get when you see this one. I'm constantly composing little notes in my mind to put inside. I'm sorry they rarely make it out of my mind onto paper. I'm really sorry about the ones that do go on paper but never get mailed. But I carry you all with me every day.
One was from my Aunt in CA, just a quick "thinking of you" note which was for DH too. The other was a beautiful card containing a thank you note for an email I wrote awhile ago. Heh, that seems kind of strange in this day and age, but I appreciated it because I know what an effort it is for me to do the same.
The funny thing is, I've got a whole drawer of stationary and cards for all occasions that I've collected over the years. I tend to by a handful of cards at once, whenever I'm in a cool store, and I might manage to send one of them right away, but the rest tend to languish. I take them out and look at them from time to time, and there are still a couple in there that I had before I even met DH. I'm constantly promising myself that I will start writing more. I've tried carrying blank cards around with me, so that I can jot quick notes while waiting places, but somehow that doesn't happen. I've tried carrying specific cards for specific people to make sure I get their birthday greetings sent off on time, but most of the time I end up crumpling them up in my bag and then discarding them. I quit doing the holiday card thing at the end of the year, because it was too stressful to try to get them out on time. For a few years, I switched to a "New Year's greeting." On New Year's Day, I'd sit down with my cards and write them out while watching the parades and games. Then I'd continue on through the month until I'd made it through the whole list. But that went by the wayside too. This weekend, I managed to send two cards out, but the birthday one went out on the birthday (which is actually closer to on time than since this nephew was born 5 yrs ago!) The other had been planned for at least 6 weeks.
I do stay in touch with people by phone and email and LJ, and I love the immediacy of these tools, but I also love opening an envelope addressed to me, by someone I know. It gives me such a lift. The cards always spend some time on display on the mantel or my nightstand too. I've got another drawer that contains many (not all) of the cards and notes I've received over the years. There are really pretty ones that I can recycle in some way, and really special ones either for the sentiment or because they were handmade. I love going through them too. They're physical reminders of past smiles (or tears) with the added bonus of producing more smiles. Cards really are the "gift that keeps on giving."
Just so you all know - I think about you all the time. I buy cards with you in mind, imagining the smile you'll get when you see this one. I'm constantly composing little notes in my mind to put inside. I'm sorry they rarely make it out of my mind onto paper. I'm really sorry about the ones that do go on paper but never get mailed. But I carry you all with me every day.