Cards, A Lost Art !

My youngest daughter Stormie just loves to visit her Gran for many reasons.  One being that Gran collects, well, everything!  She has a 100+ year old home filled with "stuff'" all about the same age. Storm loves to look and touch everything because it is all things you just don't see anywhere else except maybe the antique store.

One of my daughters favorite things to look through is a box of greeting cards that Gran has kept and some that even came with the house.  There are cards for all seasons, occasions, thank you's and cards just for notes.  Storm reads them all each time we visit. They are all written in beautiful cursive handwriting. Something else that we are losing, but that's another story in itself.

When Stormie had her first birthday I sent thank you cards to everyone. I feared that maybe in the excitement of it all I had failed to have her say the words "thank you" to each person and I wanted everyone to know that we recognized their gift and how much we appreciated them celebrating with us and also how much she enjoyed playing with the gift that she had received. She is about to have her 11th birthday and we have done this each year.  We not only thank folks for the gifts but we thank them for simply showing up for the party, calling, sending a card or any other gesture that they may have chosen to do. We do this by sending cards. 

As I had for the past MANY years with my older two children, when Stormie's first Christmas came around we gathered, took a family picture (I think the older ones may have hated it by then), and then I made a card to send to everyone in my address book. We got several cards in return for a while but as the years have passed, the number of cards that we receive  have dwindled considerably.

We send cards for just about every occasion now. Most are handmade. Some are made more "professionally" with stamps, die cuts, card stock, embellishments etc.  Some are just a piece of printer paper folded in half and half again.  Stormie draws on them with crayons, pencils and markers.  She also uses stickers.  She cuts out pictures from magazines and glues them in or whatever suits her fancy at the time.

Cards are a lost art. People mostly just send an emoji by text or attach a pic they have downloaded from google to a Facebook post. But what about the dear family and friends who don't have cell phones or Facebook.

This is where we can truly bless others.

We can start with our family and friends first. Let the children make any kind of creation and send it the old fashion way to folks that can only get mail the old fashion way. I promise it will bless their hearts.  So many people are lonely and receiving a card or short note in the mail would surely make for a much brighter day in their lives. It doesn't have to be elaborate or perfect. That is why I believe handmade is best. The person receiving it knows that another human put a little time and thought into it and their little hands scribbled a note in their own handwriting.

I hope that you will give some thought and consideration to showering others with blessings in an old fashion way.

Stormie and I participate in card drives each year.  At Valentines we usually contribute about 300 cards to a drive that distributes to children in hospitals.  At Christmas we contribute to a drive that sends to nursing homes, knowing that our card may be the only card an elderly person gets that Christmas.  We also send to orphanages around the world.

When the time comes, I will share the information about these drives and hope that you will consider participating.  NO, you do not need to make 300 cards.  1 single card would make a difference. But for now my prayer is that you will start with those close to you, the ones that you already know and love and build from there. Get a calendar, write birthdays for those you know, then, make a note on the calendar a week or so prior to the birth date and start making the card and get it in the mail so that the recipient will receive it on time. The calendar will help you Be Prepared To Bless.

Blessings,

Johnna and Stormie

Stormie's First Card