When I was a little kid, writing thank you notes following every birthday and Christmas seemed like a chore - one that I dreaded. I still have a difficult time with cards in general, and I don't think that I am alone in feeling inadequate when faced with writing inside a greeting card - regardless of the occasion. I even have a hard time picking out a card, even when the sentiment is conveyed in a pre-printed message.
Sometimes so much time passes that it's easy to feel as though it's too late to say thank you. You've procrastinated too long....and it will only remind the person how long it's been - does this ring a bell? When this happens to me, I try to remind myself that it's better late than never, and think of the times that I did not receive a thank you. I'm still waiting for a few and some of them still sting - mostly because the gift was special. It was handmade.
There's an old adage about never knitting a sweater for a boyfriend...have you heard it? It's something to do with the fact that you always break up with the boyfriend by the time the sweater is finished. So much time, attention and love go into making the sweater that it's unlikely the boyfriend will ever be able to show enough appreciation. IMHO, gifting hand hooked items also has the potential to ruin a relationship. Gift with caution.
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A couple of weeks ago I received a surprise in the mail. My cousins sent me a nice thank you card and a gift card for a local shop, encouraging me to "pick out something beautiful." Chris and Lorrie have always been very profuse with their thanks and appreciation for anything that is handmade. Each of the stockings I've made over the years for their three children was always received with genuine enthusiasm and I have no doubt that they are treasured. I'm sure they told me no less than 6 times how much they liked the last stocking I made (for baby Tyler). Although the gift card was unnecessary, it was definitely not unappreciated. I picked out a beautiful necklace with a butterfly...and I will think of them every time I wear it (which seems to be about every-other day lately ;-) )
Speaking of saying thank you....I wanted to let you all know how much I appreciated your comments, both in person, in e-mails and directly on the blog. It's great to receive so much support for something that I derive so much enjoyment from doing. Thank you.
