FEB 06, 2020 – You may have read the Cardie Newsletter I sent last Saturday, in which I wrote about how my late mother believed life was all about seeking “truth and beauty.” Well, in her own way over the past few days, the original Fairy Cardmother let me know that I neglected to mention the important need for laughter. “When there’s so much pain, frustration and anger in the world,” she would always say, “we have to make a point of balancing it out with fun, joy and laughter. Whatever comes, we’ve got to keep laughing, Jo. It does the heart good.”

Mom would have appreciated my good friend and Contributing Cardie Candy Clausell, who sees the humor in life and laughs as much as anyone I know. This new card message makes six that Candy has written. (So you know, she became a Contributing Cardie by submitting potential messages that we then published. In this case, Creative Coordinator Liz and I saw the great cowgirls image and sent the pic off to all our Contributing Cardies for input.) Like a well-made magnet, Candy’s message stuck!

Candy says that, when she saw the photo, she was reminded of “two great friends that I’d go to dinner and clubs with back in my 30s. They were — and still are — very fit dance instructors with studios of their own. But having great shapes did not stop these Jersey girls from occasionally asking me, ‘Does this outfit make my butt look big?’

“Of course that was in the days before women embraced the shapely ‘gifts’ they’d received from genes or exercise,” Candy explained. “Thinking of these gal pals made me smile because, while they worried that they were too well-endowed in the derriere, I envied them … I had inherited a flat behind that no number of squats will cure!” For the record, Candy turned 69 the day before yesterday, and no pole-dancing 50-year-old has anything on her. :)

What I’m trying to say is, we can all get caught up in our own things: I have my Mom’s obsession with wanting good, wise, well-meaning people in office; Liz has been concerned with the Australian bush fires and doing all she can to reduce her own carbon footprint; Candy spends every Wednesday at the Miami Pelican Harbor Seabird Station, cleaning the cages of the injured pelicans being rehabilitated there. But, buried in our preoccupation with politics, climate change and pelican poop are ample opportunities to lighten up and laugh. As I often remind myself, we just have to slow down long enough to notice! Thanks, Candy, for coming up with this funny little magnet that will slip nicely into the witty card that will remind us to — every once in awhile — climb down off our high horses and have a good guffaw!

~ jodee stevens
founder & chief creative