Thank You Notes - Your Mom Was Right

Did your Mom ever make you right thank you notes for birthday presents?  I bet as a kid it was torture. But your Mom was right, a simple written thank you can make the world of difference.

One of my last bosses in the Air Force was very demanding.  Not mean, just really demanding.  It was aggravating sometimes, but all was forgotten when I found a hand written thank you note on my desk thanking me for pulling off a retirement ceremony in somewhat challenging circumstances.

Just last week, when I forgot to run the washer, I told my daughter to leave her basketball bag on the washer (to remind me) and I would pull out what she needed and deliver it to school.  When I got home after walking her brother to school I found this post-it on the washer:

The cynical side of me could have thought this was her way of making sure her Mom brought exactly what was needed, but instead I was grateful for the "Thanks!" Yay!  She noticed that her Mom is working hard taking care of her :-) (she's a really great kid, just plays her cards close to her chest :-))

By far the best thank you note I've seen in a while my neighbor showed me.  This neighbor is the first person I met when we moved in, and he's been a joy to know over the years.  He makes amazing rum cakes - all butter and rum and a little flour and sugar to hold it together.  When I deployed he offered to send me some.  After a short discussion on why he should not put "rum cake" on the label when sending them to the AOR, we christened them "Cam Cakes" and I received them regularly over the course of a year.  Eventually my entire squadron recognized the size and shape of a Cam Cake box and would drop by my office and casually ask if I might be willing to share it.  After I got home, Cam was nice enough to send cakes to other deployed friends, including one of the captains I worked with who I was close to during my deployment.  She wrote him a lovely thank you, and just recently he showed us that he had kept it, and cherishes it.  Look at the note he wrote on the envelop flap at the bottom:

"Please save - a lovely note that makes me proud and happy"

Take a moment over the holidays to thank someone who has made a difference for you.  I know it will be cherished :-)