February 11, 2022 — Heading into this Valentine’s Day weekend, we thought we’d share a good Long Live Love! story with you.

It was back in May of 2020 that we received a late-night email from Cardie Nancy Hawthorne. “I was in the midst of ordering your cards online earlier this evening, left the computer, husband sat down and proceeded to check his email,” she explained. “I was not finished and now I can’t find my way back. Is there a way to go back to my order, without having to start over?”

Regrettably, we had to reply, “Eeek. The order should still be in your cart, Nancy. If not, ugh, so sorry to say …” She responded, “Thanks. Guess I’ll start over tomorrow. Husband suggests that, next time I leave something unfinished, I put a note on the screen saying something like, ‘I’m not finished.’ It was a lesson for him … and for me.”

The next morning, our graphic designer Brandon sent an email that read like the same saga that Cardie Nancy had just described. “Wait!” I thought as I put two and two together. “Brandon’s last name is Hawthorne. The cardie with the waylaid order must have been Brandon’s amazing 87-year-old mother!” Reading further, from Brandon we learned the happy ending: “This morning, Mom woke up to a box of fresh donuts and a big ‘I’m sorry’ note from my father. At 97, he had braved our Covid-world to go out and get her donuts.”

Nancy graciously let us share her sweet story in the following week’s cardie newsletter, and then life took some bittersweet turns for her and her time-to-get-the-donuts husband Cal. They’re doing well now, but for the month of July 2020, Nancy was hospitalized with a scary, mysterious infection that is thankfully resolved. Then, between this past Christmas and New Year, Cal had a stroke. Despite doctors saying that he should not anticipate returning home, after a week in the hospital followed by a few in rehab, Cal rallied in order to head straight back to the life he and Nancy have shared for 65 years. The two are now wait-listed for an apartment in their assisted living facility-of-choice a few blocks from their daughter.

Brandon and I were talking recently about how much he admires and appreciates his parents and their enduring love and companionship. (The man even has a tender In Gratitude section of his website dedicated to them and their hand in his life!) I told him that I would likely always remember the day Skype inadvertently put my call through to him, minutes after he’d received the sad news that his mom had been rushed to ER … when I heard him so upset, I thought, wow, that woman is LOVED! And from the few interactions I’ve had with her, I have a sense why, and I also know how much she adores her talented and caring son.

When his dad was in the hospital, Brandon shared with me, “This week has been a gift in some ways. This is probably the first time I’ve ever spent an entire week alone with my mom. Growing up, she and dad went everywhere together, and I don’t recall him ever going out of town for a week without her. While recent days have been a whirlwind of hospital visits, paperwork, errands, and tasks for us, at the end of each long, tiring day I’ve been making Mom dinner each night. That’s been so special.”

So, in honor of Valentine’s Day and for the benefit of caring cardies everywhere, B and I cooked up that he’d ask his mom for pointers on making a long and happy marriage. When we asked, “What has enabled you to keep the love and affection alive these 65 years?” she answered, “We will not fight. We’ve never, ever shouted at one another. (Though I think I did a lot of shouting at you kids. 😉) If we get really angry about something, we talk about it. We rarely criticize and, if we feel we must, we try to do it in a gentle way. And we’re polite with each other. For example, he will tell me he enjoyed the dinner I made and thank me for making it.”

We asked Nancy to please “describe something that stands out in your memory as one of the most touching things Cal’s ever done for you.” Her immediate response, “One of the most touching things he’s done for me? Oh, there are too many to count!

“If pressed,” she said, “I’d have to say those six straight weeks of chemo for breast cancer decades ago now. Every weekday, Cal drove me to my treatment, sat and waited, and then (since I usually felt alright after), he’d take me off somewhere, like to lunch where I’d never been before. Or drive through strange-to-us neighborhoods or to a nearby town to explore. Just to give me something else to think about.” ❤️

In honor of Nancy and Cal Hawthorne, and the redemptive power of donuts, we wish you a most loving Valentine’s Day weekend.

Jodee Stevens
Founder & Chief Creative