Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Life Goes By In A Blur....

I just received the most adorable card from my moms husband the other day, he had taken a card with a simple sun and 2 mice and turned the sun into a flower, drew a school bus that had our school district's name on it, a bus stop sign and the 3 grands carrying their books to the bus, it was amazing!

Inside, he also included a check for the kids school supplies. Now, this might seem a bit extreme to some of you, or you may think we need his check, but the reality is, my mom before she died loved nothing more at the beginning of a school year than to purchase school things for the kids and send them to us.

I would receive a box full of notebooks, pencils, glue, colored crayons, head bands, barrettes, back packs, tops and pans, gloves and anything else she thought the kids would need for school. No matter how much we protested, she said it was her way of feeling needed and loving her great grands.

Now that mom is gone, I have received a card and check in the mail the past 2 school years from her husband. I know he does this not just because he loves my mom deeply and wants to keep her memory alive, he loves these grands and that is what keeps us alive and moving forward each day is love.

We are all (I am the first one to stand up and say I am guilty) so caught up in our own lives that many times we forget others. I spend my time, blogging, getting on Facebook, checking Email and feel good when I wish someone happy birthday on line, but honestly, when was the last time you sat down and sent a real card?

We have lost that art and in doing so just for the sake of convenience, have almost crippled the United States Postal Service...seriously, think about it! When was the last time you sat down and send someone a just because card? When was the last time you opened your mailbox and there was a card inside?

I am pretty good at making the kids send Thank you notes, when they went to Hawaii this summer I told them they had to send post cards to their grandparents and best friends (imagine getting a post card from a 10 year old you didn't know went to Waikiki), I sent birthday cards (albeit mainly late), but my address book is thin!

I used to write letters, send cards to brighten peoples day, send anonymous cards just to say hi and some of them I even sent to others to mail out from a completely different state just to keep the person guessing. Now, people would freak out and think they were being stalked.

One year I sent my baby sister flowers from cupid, the Easter Bunny, Uncle Sam, Tom the Turkey...now people would be demanding to know who it was that was freaking them out. We have become such a society of fear and fastness that we have taken away the joy of a simple hello!

I have been blessed by so many of you I have come to know personally...Melinda (every year I have known her, she makes special Valentine cards for my grands teachers), Dayna, sewing machine and quilt tops so I can continue to charity quilt), Debra...oh my, the box was amazing, Abbi Mays quilt shop, hundreds of encouraging Emails, so many things I can't remember them all.

I hope I have been able to bless you in some small way. However, while I can send you Emails and FB messages, I would like to do more. I would like to be able to once in awhile drop you a card, make you smile, take away your sadness when I feel you are down. Soooooooooo, I am asking each of you, who feels comfortable, to please send me an Email with your name and address.

I may not hit the mark every time, I may not keep the USPS in business, but I can honestly say I care enough that some day when you least expect it, you will go to your mail and say...I don't know anyone in Washington and then when you read the card you will say..yes I do & she cares!

Every year I sell things on Ebay (my Zibbet shop someday will take off) and I keep the names and addresses of my buyers and at Christmas I send them a simple card wishing them a great up coming year and thanking them for their purchase.

If you feel you have no one to write to, my son is in prison, he would love to recieve a letter of encouragement from you. If you don't feel comfortable putting your address on it, use a business or post office box. Stop by a nursing home and see who never has family or friends and take them a card.

Life goes by in a blur, reach out to someone and let them know you care!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU for reminding me of how important life is. I'm going to make sure I send my family & friends a card in the mail, just because. Your step dad is an amazing man! Thanks for sharing your story.

Hilary said...

wow, your step dad sounds great... You are right.. we are always so quick to tweet, FB, or email, we don't call or send cards as much as we used to... Cards and hand written notes are a dying breed....sad...

Quiltingranny said...

You are so right Hilary and that is why I still send cards and letters when I can.