ALT="Cardthartic thank you boxed notes with pen and envelope"Dec. 29, 2020 — If there’s one thing we’ve found that kind Cardies have in common, it’s practicing the art of writing thank you notes. And many say that, what now feels like second nature, was first modeled by their mothers.

As Ann John introduced herself by email four years ago now, “My love of a good card is in my genes. My mother lived every moment of every day and cards are something she loved both to send and receive! As my sisters and I were growing up,” Ann explained, “Mother would remind us often of the importance of properly expressing (in thank you notes!) our appreciation for even the smallest of gifts. Mama shared that, when she was growing up and times were hard, a card was considered a gift so, throughout her life, she continued to write thank you notes for each card she received …

“When our father passed away, Mother wrote a thank you note to every person who sent her a card. We daughters told her that really wasn’t necessary, but she wrote on. And, as you might guess, yes — as my sisters and I later revealed to each other — each of us had written a thank you note for every card we received acknowledging our sad loss on a lovely day in May.

“Our mother unexpectedly passed away at the age of 94, watering her garden,” Ann said. “She’d apparently stepped out in the middle of writing in a card to a 100-year-old friend. (That unfinished note was mailed as it was, with an added explanation of how it was found.)”

Can you imagine how tickled the McCracken sisters’ mother must be that we first published Ann’s sweet sentiment about her living every moment of every day as a condolence. And then eight more wonderful, everyday messages that Ann and sis Carla Schmitt sent us are now published on Cardthartic cards?! As Carla summed up so well, “Mama mailed love and encouragement tucked into every corner of the cards she sent throughout her long life, and her example is ingrained in our hearts and habits.”

I know I’ve written of how much thank you notes meant to my own mother before, but I’m going to share my story again now because — especially at this time of year — it’s such a strong statement to me. In fact, it’s led me to wonder if people who don’t send thank you notes have maybe just never experienced how powerful they can be to receive …

Fifteen Christmases ago, I arranged for my sister’s family to come cross-country to spend the holidays with Mom and me. At 82, my mother was Cardthartic’s original Fairy Cardmother, the unstoppable force who lived in the building next door. A week after our guests headed home, I found Mom on the floor of her kitchen; she’d suffered a stroke. I was allowed in the ambulance with her, and in ER for those 10 hours through the night. When Mom was finally moved to a room that afternoon, I slipped home to shower and walk my poor dog and, on my way in, grabbed my mail. And there was this thank you note from my mother.

Remember now, my mom lived a building away, so she’d already thanked me profusely in person. And by phone. And email. But like Ann and Carla’s mother — when it came to a proper thank you — mine, too, firmly believed that such a sentiment was not adequately expressed until it was hand-written, stamped and mailed.

Mom died peacefully three weeks later and, on the little corner desk in her kitchen, I couldn’t miss the open box of note cards and roll of stamps, with her pen still where it had fallen with her. She must have dropped my note in the mail, and gone back to writing.

Ann and I have shared our sense that our mothers left us an amazing legacy … sure signs that what we Cardies do truly matters. I’ll never again be able to sit and talk books or clothes or politics with my mom, or hear her 8:30 nightly phoned-in, “Good night!” Her quirky emails? Long gone. But that note, in her handwriting, with her little signature mouse … you can imagine how much it will forever mean to me.

Jodee Stevens
Founder & Chief Creative