A Simple Thank You

In this day of technology it's rare that we get mail. I mean of the hand written variety. Everything is emailed and texted. We chat online. We talk on the phone and we Skype. But how often do you get mail that actually has hand writing on it? I used to write thank you notes every day when I worked in marketing. If I met with someone or talked with someone on the phone, I was sure to send a hand written thank you with my business card. This gesture was commented on more than once. A colleague once said, "where do find the time?' Another person said, "your mother must have taught you well." Well, she did. After holidays and birthday celebrations we always made time to thank relatives and friends for their time and gifts that we received.

I was busy writing thank you notes after our wedding. I believe I had been writing for many evenings in a row. I'm not complaining. Where was Scott you ask? He was there. For moral support anyway. Initially he did help. After many questions like, "what would you say about the purple vase? And how do you thank someone for towels? Or what's a duvet?" I said I would write the notes. In hindsight, I do believe that he was aware of what a duvet was. We were very fortunate to have received many kind gifts. But I was at the hand cramping stage. I would take a break and step away from writing for a while. On this particular night I was almost to the end of this labor of love. A family member had been sweet enough to write down who had given what gift and almost always had put the card with the gift to eliminate any issues of who gave us the gift. Until the last two gifts. The cards had fallen off of the gifts and we had no way of knowing which card went with which gift. One gift was a large bowl. This bowl was colorful and could be used for many purposes. I have mixed cakes and cookies in this bowl. I have filled it with fruit and used it as a centerpiece. The other gift was a stock pot. The super heavy variety. The kind that you can make a double batch of anything in. What was I to do? I contemplated for a long time. Do I call the people and explain the situation? No. Sounded too tacky to me. Should I do some behind the scenes detective work and start calling people in the family? No. The risks of the two gift givers finding out are immeasurable. So I did the next best thing. Because both gifts were from family. And because both gifts had to do with eating. I did what anyone in their right mind would do. The thank you read something like this, "Thank you for being part of our wedding day. It was wonderful to have you with us. Family means so much and your gift will help us in gathering our family together in many future celebrations and meals."

Whew! If that wasn't the chicken's way out I don't know what was. It is now nineteen years later and I still don't know who gave what gift. I guess it doesn't really matter. I hope that the important thing was this. A gracious gift was given. This same gift was graciously received. A simple heartfelt thank you was sent. I believe that was all that was needed. Thank you, mom, for teaching me well.

©2011 Ann M. De Broux