My sister Barbara told me today that it’s up to her and me to save the lost art of writing thank-you notes. Although our other sister Beverly and my best friend Betsy are just as diligent at sending hand-written thank-you notes. And I know there are well-mannered others out there, but let me ask you something: When is the last time you received an honest-to-goodness real thank-you card in the mail?
Often in today’s electronic communications, we don’t even see the word thanks but rather just TY. What, our fingers are so tired we can type just two characters instead of six?
Last year a business friend attended his younger cousin’s wedding. The cousin couldn’t afford a videographer for the event so my friend (who is very good at filming videos) recorded the event as well as many highlights of the reception. He then spent much time editing to produce a lovely memory of the special day. My friend mailed it with a card saying he hoped his cousin and her new husband enjoyed the special gift.
He never heard one word back.
When I managed a department and interviewed applicants for an open position, those who sent me a follow-up sincere note of thanks citing some portion of our conversation earned two bonus points. Those who emailed me a run-of-the-mill “thanks” got half a point. And those who sent nothing? Well, how much stock could I put into their resume claim of “excellent written and verbal communication skills”?
In January the site FrugalFun4Boys.com posted a list of “40 Old-fashioned Skills for Kids Today.” The list of “how-to” items included: find a book at the library, ask questions to get to know someone better, sew on a button, balance a checkbook, read a map, and yes…write a thank-you note. A link to the complete list is below.
A heartfelt thank-you note means so much. I encourage you to join the sisterhood/brotherhood/personhood of thank-you note writers and help recapture this art form.
Oh and thank you very much.
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Forty “Old-Fashioned” Skills for today’s children
The Sisterhood of thank-you-note writers
A teacher’s perspective on hand-written thank-you notes
Writing is a soft skill that can help you professionally
Norma, love this! So enjoy your writings – THANK YOU for inspiring me always and brightening my day!
Norma, thank you for encouraging me to explore writing in my senior years.
You are welcome! I can’t bear to think that you’re retiring from St. James’ in December. Say it isn’t so!!!
I received a “thank you” note last week from my husband’s cousin thanking us for attending his 80th birthday party. Short and sweet, but very sincere.
How sweet!
I watched my son write thank you after thank you to so many people who rallied when he lost his son last weekend.
Some thank you cards are fun and easy to write, but I know it can’t have been easy for Brady to write those on behalf of his family. My heart is with you, dear one.
A sincere THANK YOU for being such a special friend!
Love you!
judy
And I will say RIGHT BACK AT YOU, my sweet friend.