The Art of Writing Thank-You's

I am first to admit that I have become very lax in written correspondence.  There was, once upon a time, that I wrote letters to aunts, Grandma's, and even my sister when she was off to college in another state. I even had a pen-pal, who was my age, all through high school. Even more fun was to receive a reply in the mail.

In addition to letter writing, for every gift received, we would hand write a thank-you note to the giver, exclaiming our joy over their thoughtfulness. Our mom instilled this practice in my sister and me at a very young age.

Then the internet happened...and email. It was too"easy" to dash off a quick word of thanks without a second thought. Instant gratification, and nearly instant replies. After that, Facebook and text messaging came into being, and even more impersonal was a quick text or instant message of gratitude, if given at all. Handwriting correspondence sadly went by the wayside along with rotary phones and land lines.

That was until a couple weeks ago, when I received not one, but three gifts, two of which contained letters. I knew I needed to reinstate the art of letter writing and more importantly, that of thank-you writing. 

Before I could even send off my first thank you, one sender- my former Art teacher from high school, who had sent me some teaching materials and a lovely letter- texted me to see if I had gotten it. I assured her that I had and that I would be sending a thank you off forthwith. I chose a pretty card with a Monet painting to respond.

One down, two to go. 

The second unexpected gift was a letter and a cute top from my aunt Bea, which she said I could used for work. She always writes letters and cards, which I tend to save, and so I wrote her a card letter of thanks in return. I have a large cardboard box filled with various blank cards, so I did not use any fancy stationary. Just a heart-felt response.

Last, but not least, my sister and her family gave me a bag of Trader Joe's coffee and olive oil for my birthday. Not only that, but Nicole said she picked up a couple of LuLaRoe shirts for me as well. My sister is amazing and is always doing such nice things for me. I know I do not tell her that enough, but I appreciate how we have grown closer as we have gotten older. So my last thank-you card went off to her. Just a quick note of thanks to let her know how I appreciated the gifts. 

Though this is not New Years, I have started a resolution to write more letters, send more cards, and definitely hand write out all thank-yous. The best part is receiving mail that is not bills!  Consider sending a hand written thank you, if you do not already, for the next gift you receive. I know I enjoy getting those as well.