Do you remember those days when a thank you letter was considered obligatory? I was reading Ciel's post on 'Surrounded by the Spirit'yesterday, saying that when she was a child no presents were played with until the letter was written.
My mother sat with a notebook and made a list as we opened Christmas presents from Aunts, cousins, friends. I did the same when my children were young. Yes, it was a chore to get those letters written, but we tried to do it within the week.
Out of interest I Googled 'thank you letters' and found that there were at least ten sites showing you how to write a thank you letter. I thought that was a bit sad. You can get ready printed cards, cards with half the sentence on , as in Thank you for the....., singing cards, photo cards, and so on.
A simple letter from a child, even if mis-spelt, saying thank you for the lovely present means more than any pre-prepared card. I still treasure little missives from grandchildren.
Sadly it seems that e mail has taken over and the joy of receiving a handwritten envelope through the mail is dying out.
What do you feel about thank you letters?
14 comments:
Great.
Hello Elizabeth,
I'm a promotor of thank you letters as well, taught my children the same. If they email that's okay with me but I prefer handwritten cards :) Have a good day!
Good manners never go out of style; same with writing thank you notes, letters, sending cards, etc. I hand write, hand address, stamp and mail several letters, cards, thank you notes each month. I take pleasure in sending them and use a fountain pen and seal them with my last initial, "B" set in hot wax. Maxine, one of my long time friends, sends me at least a card a month. She's six months younger than I and we both receive such pleasure in sending, and receiving, hand written correspondence.
I am guilty of not always sending a thank you card, really depends on circumstances. With that said....I think a handwritten thank you card is the right thing to do, it's so nice to receive and it makes me feel good to send one.
There is nothing like a hand-written note or card. When we moved last spring, I found a box in the attic that was full of cards and letters from loved ones, many of whom are gone, and it was heart-warming. I doubt that an email will last for posterity.
That said, I have to realize that we are in a new age. The important things are gratitude and the connection with the loved one.
I have always made a habit of gifting young people with a box of Thank You notecards as soon as they can write. I also encourage reading and owning special books by gifting a child early with a box of bookplates for the books they will treasure). I insisted my own children/grandchildren write their 'thank you' cards asap after receiving a gift, being taken somewhere, being the recipient of some kind of thoughtful deed etc. These days I notice the e-mail, or even more sad, a text by phone, seem the only way they respond to anything. Personal phone calls appear to be passé now too! Kindly little thoughts and deeds are pushed aside in so many instances, but I will always enjoy picking (or sometimes making) a special card, taking up a pen, and writing a note to show how much I appreciated whatever was done for me.
I was shopping in Barnes & Noble (bookstore chain here in US) a few days ago for a gift card - at least some youngsters still enjoy real books and like to shop for their own. In the stationery dept. there were boxes of lovely note cards/thank you cards etc. I treated myself to a box of beauties and look forward to writing them.
"The times they are a changing" - and sadly not for the better.
Hope the rains have stopped - my Wiltshire friends are flooded!
Happy week dear B.
Mary xx
Handwritten notes are definitely best! xo
They are the best! I so enjoy writing them :D mari
I so agree with you! I miss snail mail and although email is convenient, it's nice to get something you can hold in your hand. Handwritten thank you notes are, to me, so personal and nicer.
A trip down memory lane indeed. Those thank you letters were all part and parcel of christmas. My children were taught to write their letters and now my grandson sends a thank you letter and not just at Christmas either. Hugs ValeryAnne.
Yes I know what you mean, we always wrote thank you letters and I always made sure my children did. Time changes and things progress, but I always feel we lose so many things too xx
Every time I receive a thank you note in the mail it really blesses me. I really need to keep this practice alive in my circle.
I do appreciate giving and receiving them - I had one recently from a three year old that was a simple page of kisses (xxxxxx) lovely so the words are not even too important, it's the thought that counts!
Well, you've hit a bit of a sore spot with me Elizabeth. My girls were taught to write thank you's and they still do to this day. But they seem to be the last of a dying breed. I have heard people dismissively say, "Oh nobody does that anymore." Well they should! Politeness, gratitude and kindness should not be a thing of the past. I must say, the shortage of thank you's makes the ones that do come all the sweeter.
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