December 28, 2021 — This new Thinking of You design is one of 43 NEW! cards that we’ll formally release next Tuesday. Informally, you can find them all right here right now. 😉 We singled this one out to share with you today because it has a particularly sweet and meaningful (albeit lengthy) backstory that really hits home this time of year …

The world lost a bright and happy light when Cardie JoAnn Dalziel passed back in July. She was a bigger-than-life member of this community, one who really tickled us with her wit. Just a year ago she first made her feelings known on a cardthartic.com order she placed. “It’s becoming more and more difficult to find truly meaningful cards,” she stated. “Grocery and drugstores still carry cards, but in a price range of $4.99 to $10.99. Plus, they are huge and ugly. Warmly, JoAnn Dalziel”

Still giggling over her pull-no-punches “huge and ugly,” we invited JoAnn to Introduce Yourself and, on that submission form, she explained, “In the past few years, I’ve been desperately searching for cards with deeper and more meaningful messages, sans glued-on glitter or goofy images, and I found my way to Cardthartic. The condolence cards in particular spoke to me, as they are always a simple photo with a few simple words inviting the recipient to open and read a very simple — and gently powerful — message that seems to say it all.”

When it came time to “upload a favorite headshot,” to hers, JoAnn added the Covid-era caveat, “For nearly a year now, I have dyed my own roots and cut my own hair. I am no stylist. My technique is clump and cut. I could scare a raccoon or make a baby cry.”

That cracked us up so much that we couldn’t resist featuring her humor in a cardie newsletter, which we decided to make a surprise. When that CNews hit her mailbox, JoAnn emailed straight away, “I am so shocked that my husband is still trying to scrape me off the floor as I unsuccessfully try to explain the background to all this. Hard to believe, but I am speechless. And, as usual, my hair is sticking out all over like a porcupine!

“It is said that a star is never recognized in his/her own lifetime,” she teased, “but this cardie newsletter is my proof that I am funny! Be assured that, if I get on Comedy Club, I will comp you front-row seats!” Every exchange with JoAnn was such a hoot that we promised her, “When we hold our first big Cardie Con, we’ll ask you to MC (porcupine hair and all)!”

After that exchange in March, we didn’t hear from this charmer again until a June email that read, “To all dear staff and Cardie Oma Hannlis. I have not communicated with you all since before Easter when I received Hannlis’ lovely card and read her beautiful essay, which I have kept. It is so difficult to share such sad and shocking news …

“Well, before Easter, I had not been feeling up to par. MD appt on May 4, left with referral to schedule a Ct Scan ASAP. Shocked to learn of pancreatic cancer that has spread to my liver. Chest scan then revealed blood clots on both lungs caused by the cancer. So now on blood thinners. Whew!

“I have an excellent oncologist at the University of Michigan Hospital. If not for his calmness, intelligence and ongoing care, I would not have the courage necessary to begin chemo this Monday, June 7. Love you all. Oh, I did receive my order of those extra-cute get well cards. Thank you so much. Love you all! 😘💓”

Wow. How exceptionally considerate does a person have to be to devote such precious time and energy to letting her fans know why we hadn’t heard from her. It meant so much — and we cared so much — that JoAnn’s Fairy Cardmother quick shipped her a Kindle loaded with all the cardie-favorite books recommended in our Whatcha Reading? issues of the newsletter. And ever the cardie champion, she added the audiobook The Ultimate Guide to Writing and Performing Stand-up Comedy. 👏🏼

JoAnn remained in our thoughts and prayers until her kind friend Carole Radzialowski posted the following message beneath her cardie profile: “I am a very fortunate recipient of the wonderful cards sent by JoAnn, a true ‘cardie.’ It is with a broken heart that I inform you of her passing on July 23, 2021. She was a very thoughtful person who had an excellent sense of humor and compassion.” Carole’s sense of loss was shared by all who knew this One-of-a-Kind. 😥

JoAnn’s friend Joan Rucker reached out to us in August, with ideas for a card that would serve as a tribute to her dearly departed. “I want it to be about friendship,” Joan proposed. “It should convey that a true friend is there for you. Even when your days hurry by, with little or no personal interaction, you still know that friend is there for you! Any chance these words would work: A true friend shines like a star … ever present even when not seen!”

It was tough telling Joan that, as much as we loved her intentions, the message just didn’t sound like Cardthartic (at least not to us). She lobbied hard, this friend anyone would be very lucky to have, and tried several variations. “I want this to be a card to send to someone whose friendship you really value,” she emphasized. “I wish I could have sent something like it to JoAnn … just as a surprise on an ordinary day. 😔

“If this card ever does come to fruition,” she shared, “I plan to send it to all JoAnn’s friends and others of my own and say, ‘Get one of these cards and tell that special friend what s/he means to you! I wish I could.’”

We’ve not given up on Joan’s proposed star card. In the meantime, we’ve published the girls in the hammock, where on the back you’ll read: Honoring Joan Rucker’s enduring love for her dear friend JoAnn Dalziel.

Should you choose to send this card to your own special friends, half the purchase price will be donated in JoAnn’s name to the University of Michigan Hospital’s Story Studio.

Your contribution will help fund “writers-in-residence who visit patients wishing to record a personal audio story for someone special in their lives free-of-charge.” How JoAnn is that!?!

Of course, JoAnn is far from the only star lost this year. Sadly, we all know someone no longer gracing this earth. The husband of longtime Cardie Pam Schulstad thoughtfully wrote to say that he had lost Pam and how much she loved being part of our community. When she lost her beloved friend Jamie in August, Contributing Cardie Paige Baker very beautifully expressed the grief we all have come to feel.

To JoAnn, we say thank you for inspiring goodness and humor. To her and all the other lost stars, our message is, “Shine on. We will talk again one day … there’s still so much more to say!”

Jodee Stevens
Founder & Chief Creative