Old Fogey Alert!

I received a written thank you over the weekend. I must have read it four or five times, even though it was "Dear Deb, Thanks for x," a paragraph of friendship and "Love, x".

I believe the hand written thank you speaks volumes about who you are. This is the only one I've received this Christmas and that makes me sad.

Now, if you've sent electronic thanks or called me and said thanks, I don't want you feeling awkward or uncomfortable or angry that I'm denigrating your thanks. You are grateful, I can tell, for the little gift bestowed upon you. In this era, electronic thanks are acceptable. Miss Manners even said so. But, it still makes me sad.

I come from an era where written thank yous were required when you received something. I've mentioned being forced to sit down at the kitchen table and write out thank you notes on the day after Christmas. I was a bit more lenient with Carole but the thank yous had to be out the door by New Year's Day. Birthday thank yous had to be out by December 1st. It takes so little time to write, "Dear Grandma, Thank you for the sweater. It will keep me nice and warm this winter. Love Debbie". This kind of thing is a lost art.

I admit to not being really good about writing thank you. You get busy and forget, particularly if the gift giving was at some place other than your home. Tags get lost. Life intervenes and, a week or two later, you can't remember if you thanked someone for the pomegranate and grapeseed facial scrub and did that come from that friend or that other friend. I try, but sometimes, I fail.

Hence, the receipt of this small card with thanks written on the inside was very welcome. I'd like to see more of these but I understand that some people never learned to do it and some people  just don't make the time. If you want to make me really happy, write me a thank you.

Thanks, in advance.

Beverage:  Earl Grey tea

Deb