I love thank yous – the words, the notes, giving thanks, receiving thanks. I love all things thankful. I love thank yous so much that when I receive a real, live, hand-written thank you note, I feel compelled to thank the sender. It’s a vicious cycle, resulting in so much gratitude flying around, one might lose track of what the original thank you was even for. I received a thank you email for a thank you note I sent to a new client last week, and it was the best email I got all week. Just to know that she appreciated the note enough to take the time to email me made me know that my quest to write notes is one worth continuing. It’s so rare to see anymore, the hand-written note of any sort (or any interesting mail that isn’t a bill or junk mail), but it’s so very appreciated, it’s a wonder more of us don’t take the time to do it. But time, that is what we all seem to be lacking these days, and everything from household cleanliness to proper nutrition to manners suffer because of that lack of time.
I am trying, and it’s really hard, to write thank you cards whenever warranted. I still have a list of housewarming thank you notes to write from (yikes) nearly two months ago, and I think about them every time I pull out our awesome Whirley Pop. I won’t be able to fully enjoy every perfectly popped kernel until I have properly thanked my neighbor for the gift. And yet, I haven’t spared the five minutes it will take to sit down and write the note. Why on earth not?
And boy, trying to instill this habit into my 6- and 8-year-old boys is no small feat. They always feel good about themselves once the notes are completed, but holy smokes, the process of buckling down and getting them done is nearly enough to make me give up. And yes, they often get thank you calls for their thank you notes, especially from the mail-loving grandparents who likely have no idea how many threats were made to get them written (well, now they know).
So now that we are in the season of thanks, let us all pick up
our pens and express our thanks to those who may or may not be waiting for a show of appreciation for that gift, that meal, that friendly ear when you needed one. And if you’d like to tweet your gratitude using #RVAthanks, just mention @RVAFamilyMag. We’ll share it with the thousands of RFM families and followers in our social network.
I know one note I need to write, and that’s the one to YOU! Thank you, our loyal readers, for bringing Richmond Family Magazine into your lives each month. We thank our lucky stars each and every day for you, and for our advertisers who make it all possible. From our table to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!
