One of my daughters once reflected that her Nana taught her how to cook and cuss (and Nana was excellent at both) and her Grammie (my mother) taught her to pray before meals and write thank you notes. Both of these women were fabulous influences in my life although I admit I excel more at cussing than cooking and I leave the prayers before meals to Burl. However I too was the recipient of “Thank You Notes 101″ as a child – the iron clad rule in our house was this – you had one week in which to write the note. If at the end of that time, the note wasn’t written you could no longer use the item you had received until the note was written. In the case of monetary gifts you can probably guess correctly that the $ didn’t get spent until the note was written. My mother wasn’t into excuses or negotiation and I think both of my daughters can attest to the fact that I wasn’t either when it came to this subject. I’m proud to say they are both quite diligent about writing notes now and take great delight when they write their notes before I do!
Now that you know my sordid background you’ll know why I was delighted to open my mail yesterday and find hand-written thank you notes from my great nephews, Jack and Sam who are 7 and 9. I had sent them gift certificates to Barnes and Noble for Christmas and I’m guessing they didn’t shop before they wrote their notes. I’d love to think my nephew, John, was the influencing factor in these notes but I’ll give the credit to his wonderful wife, Sheri, who will someday be the best mother-in-law any woman could want. John and Sheri are the kind of parents who believe in teaching their sons things like manners, personal responsibility, not interrupting when others are talking, helping around the house – and writing thank you notes. I’m not dumb enough to believe these delightful young men are perfect but I do know my sister Susie has got to be looking down from heaven with a big smile and her “proud Grandma Susie” look on her face.
So here’s to my mother – the original travel agent for guilt trips – for recognizing the value of teaching me a few manners that actually stuck. And here’s to my daughters, their hubbies and to John, Sheri, Jack and Sam for continuing the family tradition of thank you notes. I love and appreciate you all. And to Jack – I will return your note since you asked me to write back and tell you how Mulligan is!
