WRITTEN THANKS

I was sitting at the dining room table writing some note cards when my son Alex walked in the room.

“What are you up to today?” He asked as he stopped next to me and gave me a kiss on the top of my head.

“Well, after I finish writing this thank you note I was thinking about making myself a cup of tea and sitting out on the back porch for a little bit.”

“Thank you note?” Alex called over his shoulder as he went into the kitchen. I could hear the water running at the sink. “When did you start writing thank you notes?”

“I used to write them all the time!” I had just finished signing my name. “Your Dad even had monogrammed embossed note cards made for me because I wrote so many of them!” I shrugged my shoulders. “But then email and text were invented and it was just easier to do that.” I sighed. “But the other day I got a note from my girlfriend Kathy and realized she’d never given up on the art of a hand written note.” I flipped through my address book. “It just struck me that the time and effort that goes into writing the note, addressing an envelope, putting a stamp on it, and placing it in the mailbox just means so much more than an email or text.” I found the address I was looking for and began writing it down. “That’s when I decided I needed to go back to writing personal thank you notes when someone does something nice for me.” I slipped the note into the envelope and licked the envelope closed. “Now I just need a stamp and I’m all set.”

I was getting up to go find a stamp when Alex came out of the kitchen holding a mug in each hand. He held one out to me. I could see the steam rising from it. “I made you a cup of tea.” He said as he placed it on the table.

“Really?” I couldn’t help but smile. “You made that for me?”

“Hey, you said when you were done writing your thank you note that you wanted to have a cup of tea out on the porch.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I was making myself coffee so I just thought why not make you your tea?”

“Oh, my gosh,” I put the note down on the table and picked up the tea. “That’s so sweet of you. Do you want to come sit with me out on the porch?”

“Sure.” He pointed to the envelope. “Don’t you want to get a stamp on that first?”

“I’ll do it after this.” I held up my tea as I headed for the back door.

I opened the door for him. “That was so nice of you to do.” I gushed as I followed him out the door.

“Are you going to be writing me a thank you note?” Alex laughed as he sat down in the Adirondack chair.

I sat in my rocking chair and started to laugh. “Wait.” I stopped laughing. “That’s really not such a bad idea.”

Alex held up his hand as he shook his head. “I wasn’t being serious. You don’t have to write me a thank you note.”

“I’m not saying an actual thank you note.” I sat back in my chair and took a sip of tea, “But maybe you, Dad, and I could keep a list of all the nice things we do for each other during the day, have it hanging on the refrigerator, and we’ll all feel more appreciated.”

Alex thought about it for a moment then looked over at me and smiled. “You’re thinking your list would be the longest aren’t you?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I really hadn’t given it that much thought.” I tried to stifle a laugh as I went to take another sip.