March 2, 2021 — We love this new design because it is so, so true! Talk about honoring emotions … we’re pretty sure that feeling a heightened sense of discombobulation has been with us for, yep, nearly a year now. And it seems all we can do is laugh at ourselves and the inexplicable that comes with this new normal.

According to vocabulary.com, “Discombobulated is a fun, fancy word for ‘confused.’ If something has put you in a state where you don’t know up from down and you can’t spell your own name, you may be discombobulated. Trying to say discombobulated for the first time might discombobulate you! Because of its funny sound, discombobulate is often used in a humorous way.”

At Cardthartic, we’re thinking the whole world is a wee bit discombobulated. When our Fulfillment Center has your orders out the door the very next day, how disheartening to hear from so many of you that USPS has yet to deliver weeks later. Discombobulated! And you know how, in last Friday’s Cardie Newsletter, we said we would add two of the lovely new grief support card FREE with every order? Minutes later, our checkout began to malfunction :( Cardies who tried to place orders that evening did everything exactly right and yet received nothing but error messages. By Saturday morning, it was working properly again, but still. Discombobulated!

Yesterday was my birthday, and dear Hannlis — who has celebrated 97 of her own — was at my door bright and early with a cutting from her precious orchids. “There were two, so here’s one for you!” she said, to my utter astonishment as just days before she had excitedly shown me the new blooms that appear so few and far between. How sweet a gift was that?! And the vase, well, it bore a striking resemblance to the little plastic containers of dipping sauce she receives with deliveries of Rockin’ Rib Rolls :)

As I began to thank her for her thoughtfulness, Hannlis, still in the doorway, turned back to her walker saying she had something else for me. As she reached for a bag hanging on the handle, I proclaimed, “Another gift?! But, Hannlis, you and your sons already sent me the big, beautiful bouquet of hot pink roses over the weekend!” That’s when she handed me a little bag of her garbage for the next time I was headed to our building’s dumpster. One of the most discombobulated gifts I’ve yet to receive, we both laughed.

At 5:30 PM, the two of us left here for a birthday vaccine (now there’s an idea!) and I thought it strange that H rapped on neighbor Erica’s door on the way out of the building. Then, while waiting for our Lyft, she called Erica to say only, “We’re leaving.” Seemed strange to me, but I thought, “That’s nice that she and the 30-something Brazilian are growing so close.”

We were given our shots immediately — fast, painless and easy — then spent the 15 minutes required to sit and wait post-vax reading a handful of Cardie valentines that USPS had just that day delivered to Hannlis. Home at 7 PM, I went right to my desk — eager to put finishing touches on this Cardie newsletter — when Erica knocked on my door. Not about to take no for an answer, she insisted I come with her to the terrace; she and her fun husband Darcy plus Hannlis wanted to toast my birthday and watch the moon rise over Miami. And there, around Erica’s beautifully-set table, I saw 14 pairs of familiar, smiling eyes over masks yelling, “Surprise!” I was definitely discombobulated.

We laughed a lot about how each guest had nearly given away the surprise, and all made a toast to one mighty proud Hannlis for orchestrating the whole shebang. There is no “dis” in her combobulated, I can tell you that!

Now, if you’re not yet convinced that discombobulated is the new normal for the rest of us, you might check your fridge. This is what I found in mine one morning last week!?!

I have just ordered the discombobulated magnet for my refrigerator door and, to help you celebrate your own loved ones’ happy life milestones with some grins, we’ve curated the fun designs below. There’s light at the end of this tunnel, Cardies, and it’s the thoughtfulness of those who love us that will help see us through.

Jodee Stevens
Founder & Chief Creative