It all started many years ago in Thailand. A member of our mission group suggested that we send all the folks we supported a Christmas card. I was skeptical. What good could be accomplished by a simple gesture of a card? I like to be a team player, so I attended when we all got together and wrote a personal note in each card. Fast forward to July of the next year. We get a call from our good friends in Thailand. They had just received the Christmas card we sent last December! Its timing was perfect! The notes of encouragement were exactly what they needed for a difficult challenge they were facing. Wow! I changed my opinion on sending cards after that incident.
The staff at Buchheit recently asked me what hobbies or activities about which I was passionate. That question got me thinking. What do I love outside of all things homesteading? One sort of off-the-radar hobby is sending cards. I simply delight in sending out notes of encouragement in old fashion greeting cards. I have been mailing cards ever since that first card made its way to Thailand. For the past twelve years, I make it a point to mail cards at least once a month.
Why go to the time and expense? When was the last time you opened a five-year-old email? Most of them have been deleted, or they are up in some cloud. You can’t open an email and see your son’s or a grandson’s scribbly handwriting and remember when he looked up at you with so much excitement as he gave you his best! Cleaning out closets for the upcoming move, I have found cards from friends I haven’t thought of in years. You can’t do that with a tweet.
I have a forever friend who is over the moon organic and refused all man-made medications to ease the stress of menopause, so she often had down days. I missed her birthday, so I wrote to her and told her she was so special, I was going to celebrate the “wonder of her” all year long. I sent her silly cards and some I made to bring a smile to my friend’s face. There are all kinds of cards out there that celebrate the joys of aging! She loved them and many times they came just when she needed to be reminded that she was not alone in her journey. That’s what forever friends do, they encourage each other in the tough times.
Do you all know the fun of being a secret pal? That’s where you send cards and small gifts to someone who has no idea it’s from you! I love being a secret pal to my great-nephews who live far away. The neatest thing about being their secret pal is they naturally think I am a man since I tell them stories about my travels to foreign countries. I dropped it for a season while I was ill but now I am getting ready to send them currency from around the world, and we will go on a treasure hunt together. It’s a way for me to develop relationships that are centered on hands-on learning instead of technology.
When someone dies, I call and attend the funeral, but I wait to send a card for at least a month. Cards and calls come flooding in at first, but then everyone goes back to their busy lives while a widow who may have been married to her husband for the past 30 or 40 years sits alone. The sudden loss of a loved one taken too early is also next to impossible to bear. Grief knows no time limits, so I send a card later so that they know that someone is still thinking and praying for them as they adjust to their loss. I try to remember to send them a card before the first major holiday after the death of their loved one as that can be a hard day.
When someone is sick is a great time to send a card. You can paint a vision of life past the illness by reminding them of something that they love. If someone from your lady’s group is ill, send them a card reassuring them that you can’t wait to see them at a future meeting. No doom and gloom, please, remember that infirmity makes people vulnerable.
We recently had a family member who went through a very dark time in her life. Her mother requested that the family, please send her cards of encouragement. She told me that her daughter cried every time she received one as she thought her life choices had been so bad that no one in the family could still love her. What power for hope lies in a simple card!
Holidays are also a great time to send cards. My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. I always have great intentions of sending out my growing stack of Thanksgiving Day cards with a Christmas letter tucked inside, but that hasn’t happened in a few years. I save all the Christmas cards people send us and pray for them throughout the year. Weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, congratulations, and just because I’m thinking of you are great times to send a card. I had tucked many a card into my sons’ packs as they traveled all over the world on service projects and when Noah was in the Army.
I found a packet of love letters written to me by a dear young man. No, it was not my husband, but it brought back memories of a special time in my life that I was loved. I’ve kept them all these years as it reminds me of happy, youthful days! Whole generations may not have these treasures to find one day in their attics.
I write on my best stationery to my beloved nieces. I wrote a letter recently to one telling her all the things I liked about her. I find as I age, I don’t want to leave some things unsaid. Tell your kids how proud you are of them and if you’re not, come up with something positive anyway!
I encourage you to send a card soon. They can be the bright spot in a dreary day or a gentle reminder of affection and hope. Be encouraged! Life is great!
Ann May
