Your Grandmother was on to something

As soon as my fat green crayon could form letters, I wsa taught to write thank you notes. My mother and grandmother insisted that for every kindness extended to me, I must acknowledge it with a written letter of appreciation. Christmas and birthdays presented an earned opportunity for me to do a great deal of writing.

Last fall I was visiting one of our clients in the middle of the afternoon. As we sat in her front room, I noticed she kept looking out the window in search of something. After about twenty minutes she announced to her caregiver that the mail had arrived. The caregiver sprung up and retrieved it. The two of them proceeded to go through each piece of mail together. Every coupon mailer. Every Rooms to Go flyer. Every political correspondance. Every bill. One by one these two ladies devoured that mail, not missing a single thing. I asked our client if she was in the market for new furniture; if she were politically astute. To both questions she looked at me puzzled. In January I found my self in another client's home at mail time. This time there was a sticky note from a neighbor amongst the envelopes saying how pretty the client's pansies were on such a gloomy day. That sticky note brought such joy to that sweet woman!

I left that day thinking about what a simple way it is to bring happiness to another to write a note of recognition, appreciation, or hello. It shows that I am thinking about you and you matter enough to me to stop, write it down, and post it.

While this is a Senior Moments blog, I think this goes for everyone. My mom sent me a handwritten note this week. She said, "I love you, Kate". What a wonderful day brightener!! In this day where we email, Tweet, InstaGram, FaceBook, Pin, Google+, and text, it is just so nice to get a piece of mail to open, read and save.