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Memories of the holidays and birthdays would not be a complete vision without the comings and goings on the "days after." Thanksgiving begets turkey sandwiches on small dinner rolls for days. Christmas includes the yearly untangling of the tree and removal of tasteful, well-placed decorations. New Year's Celebration is followed by resolutions. Gift-giving/receiving events are followed by thank you notes.


I never really objected to writing thank you notes. They are especially important in recognition for gifts that arrived from out of state--at least let the sender know you got it. My main problem as a young person was knowing what to say. It's not that I was not grateful. I just didn't know how to articulate this in written form. It seemed so formal and impersonal. But as I got older, I realized that thank you notes (and letters) are like an extended conversation. Yes, they are one sided, but they just take a bit of imagination.


I was never very good at spelling, so my mother made me memorize some standard words so I wouldn't burn through her nice, often expensive stationery. To this day, I still say each letter in "appreciate" when I write it like you do when you learn to spell "Mississippi." While this spelling problem was cleared up when I was little, sadly it wasn't until recently that I realized there is a difference between "Have a happy New Year's" and "Have a happy New Year." Oops.


Now, as a mail-deficient college student, getting a thank you note in my mailbox for a party invitation or unexpected help really brightens my day. I keep a box of stationery under my bed in order to pass on that sunshine right on down the line.