March 1, 2023 — As those who follow Cardthartic know, this Pisces loves living by the sea. The stunning photo above was taken a few sunrises ago by Contributing Cardie Liza Greenberg, who is a good friend and close neighbor here on the quiet north end of Miami Beach. Also a top-rated college English professor, Liza each morning sends all her students a nature photo she’s taken on her morning walk/ride/swim/SUP … and she invites them to write about it. Yesterday she sent the photo you see, along with the prompt, “What Makes You Happy?”  The question really hits home today because it’s my (68th!) birthday.

Where to begin, eh?! I would first say that helping grow this community of kindred spirits — and becoming friends with so many of you along the way — feels like such an honor and brings me so much joy. At Cardthartic, we get to see the best of humanity, because we get to see how everlasting kind and nurturing you are. And to publish so many messages that originated with you, what a privilege! That makes me happy.

It makes me happy when I feel seen, heard, and understood — whether it’s by family, friends, or colleagues. Contributing Cardie Lauren Rowell and I were talking recently about how much we admire Contributing Cardie Gloria Dougherty and her decades of work to end gun violence … then yesterday I received an email that read, “In honor of you, Lauren Rowell has made a generous donation to Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.” Lauren’s personal message read, “Happy Birthday! I considered sending flowers, but I thought this would be much more meaningful to you.” Indeed.

Teaming with quick and clever people makes me happy. Our graphic designer Brandon and I were once on a zoom call interviewing a potential web developer. The guy wouldn’t turn his camera on, was clearly distracted by who knows what and, in the background, there was so much noisy commotion that we could barely make out what he was saying. We finally ended the call with, “Thanks, we think we need to keep looking” and I called Brandon right back to say, “What the hell was that?!” Without skipping a beat, B replied, “I know! It sounded like he was driving a bus in Manilla.” Hahahaha, how in the world did he come up with that?!

Being with people who have a great love of life makes everyone as well as me. On the same stretch of beach where Liza took her great shot of the morning tide, last Sunday I had the pleasure of watching our Photo Editor Luda try paddle boarding for the first time. I quick sent a pic to Luda’s husband Jeff, who was parked under his umbrella 100 yards down the beach, and he came and sat next to me and shot this video of his 71-year-old wife.

Hit play on the video and you’ll hear the commentary from Jeff, which leads me to add that it makes me happy to know people who have been married decades and are still admiring and clearly in sweet love with each other!

Last but not least, there’s the sweet little love of my life, Gracie.

It does my heart good to know an amazingly kind policeman scooped this pup up off the street after she’d been hit by a car. Officer Reyes rushed her to the animal hospital and personally paid the $1,500 needed to fuse her hip and pelvis back together, then arranged for her to be moved to a rescue where she lived the next nine months until I came along. That was three years ago, and that dear man has not missed calling at Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Gracie’s Gotcha Day since.

Before I head to the beach to count my blessings this afternoon, let me wish everyone in this great Cardie Community the same peace, joy, and satisfaction that you bring to my colleagues and me. It was Contributing Cardie Judy Cortner who suggested a lovely little work of young adult fiction on one of our Cardie Book Club editions of this newsletter. The Beatryce Prophesy is such a sweet read, and begins with one ornery goat named Answelica. Our esteemed Professor Greenberg developed such a fondness for the silly fictional character that, for Valentine’s Day, I bought her … well, click on the book cover and see for yourself!

Thank you for all you do and are. Have yourself a very happy day.

Jodee Stevens
Founder & Chief Creative


March 1, 2023 — As those who follow Cardthartic know, this Pisces loves living by the sea. The stunning photo above was taken a few sunrises ago by Contributing Cardie Liza Greenberg, who is a good friend and close neighbor here on the quiet north end of Miami Beach. Also a top-rated college English professor, Liza each morning sends all her students a nature photo she’s taken on her morning walk/ride/swim/SUP … and she invites them to write about it. Yesterday she sent the photo you see, along with the prompt, “What Makes You Happy?”  The question really hits home today because it’s my (68th!) birthday.

Where to begin, eh?! I would first say that helping grow this community of kindred spirits — and becoming friends with so many of you along the way — feels like such an honor and brings me so much joy. At Cardthartic, we get to see the best of humanity, because we get to see how everlasting kind and nurturing you are. And to publish so many messages that originated with you, what a privilege! That makes me happy.

It makes me happy when I feel seen, heard, and understood — whether it’s by family, friends, or colleagues. Contributing Cardie Lauren Rowell and I were talking recently about how much we admire Contributing Cardie Gloria Dougherty and her decades of work to end gun violence … then yesterday I received an email that read, “In honor of you, Lauren Rowell has made a generous donation to Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.” Lauren’s personal message read, “Happy Birthday! I considered sending flowers, but I thought this would be much more meaningful to you.” Indeed.

Teaming with quick and clever people makes me happy. Our graphic designer Brandon and I were once on a zoom call interviewing a potential web developer. The guy wouldn’t turn his camera on, was clearly distracted by who knows what and, in the background, there was so much noisy commotion that we could barely make out what he was saying. We finally ended the call with, “Thanks, we think we need to keep looking” and I called Brandon right back to say, “What the hell was that?!” Without skipping a beat, B replied, “I know! It sounded like he was driving a bus in Manilla.” Hahahaha, how in the world did he come up with that?!

Being with people who have a great love of life makes everyone as well as me. On the same stretch of beach where Liza took her great shot of the morning tide, last Sunday I had the pleasure of watching our Photo Editor Luda try paddle boarding for the first time. I quick sent a pic to Luda’s husband Jeff, who was parked under his umbrella 100 yards down the beach, and he came and sat next to me and shot this video of his 71-year-old wife.

Hit play on the video and you’ll hear the commentary from Jeff, which leads me to add that it makes me happy to know people who have been married decades and are still admiring and clearly in sweet love with each other!

Last but not least, there’s the sweet little love of my life, Gracie.

It does my heart good to know an amazingly kind policeman scooped this pup up off the street after she’d been hit by a car. Officer Reyes rushed her to the animal hospital and personally paid the $1,500 needed to fuse her hip and pelvis back together, then arranged for her to be moved to a rescue where she lived the next nine months until I came along. That was three years ago, and that dear man has not missed calling at Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Gracie’s Gotcha Day since.

Before I head to the beach to count my blessings this afternoon, let me wish everyone in this great Cardie Community the same peace, joy, and satisfaction that you bring to my colleagues and me. It was Contributing Cardie Judy Cortner who suggested a lovely little work of young adult fiction on one of our Cardie Book Club editions of this newsletter. The Beatryce Prophesy is such a sweet read, and begins with one ornery goat named Answelica. Our esteemed Professor Greenberg developed such a fondness for the silly fictional character that, for Valentine’s Day, I bought her … well, click on the book cover and see for yourself!

Thank you for all you do and are. Have yourself a very happy day.

Jodee Stevens
Founder & Chief Creative