sending love

One of my most favorite things is opening my mailbox and seeing a sealed envelope, beautifully addressed, and mailed with care and thought. Everdeen has been one little lucky lady and receives cards from her auntie and a very special friend of my mom's for almost every occasion. It is the sweetest thing to see her face light up as she carefully opens the envelope, curious to see what it holds inside.  But I think what makes it even more special is that someone took the time to choose a beautiful card, handwrite a sweet note, and send it off.  You know that person was thinking of just you and that can make anyones heart swell with joy. 

The art of handwriting a letter seems to be slowly dying and I think in this day and age where technology is our way of life, sometimes the idea of sitting down and writing out our correspondences seems daunting or time consuming. There's just something about reading a note on a bright computer screen that feels impersonal. It just doesn't have the same effect as a handwritten note...I think there's something nostalgic, even romantic about holding a card or letter in your hand and knowing that there was time, thought, and care put into writing it. I always picture the stacks of yellowed letters tied with string written between two people in love or two kindred spirits separated by distance. Their thoughts so eloquently put down onto paper. I think there needs to be more of that. 

My sisters and I were raised to write thank you notes...even for the smallest of gestures. When I taught in the suburbs of Denver, my students would bring me some very unique gifts...mostly from the dollar store. My all time favorite was a candle of the Virgin Mary, because who doesn't need at least one of those in their home :) I remember my assistant principal sitting with me as he helped me translate my thank you notes into Spanish. A few days later, one of my parents came up to me and gave me the biggest hug after she had received my note. Something as simple as a thank you note had broken the language barrier between us and it made us both feel good! 

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I'm so excited because my twin sister has been in the process of creating her own sweet little greeting card shop to encourage people to send some love just because. And one of my favorite on-line photo shops has a new site for personalized greeting cards called Treat that has a lot of fun options too! There are always a million reasons to send a thoughtful handwritten note to someone you care about and trust me, it will completely make their day.