The power of a handwritten thank you
Thursday, March 19, 2015 at 05:04AM 
While I have never made a secret of the fact that I do NOT miss classroom teaching, preferring to work with adults, it is fun to get back in the classroom now and again.
Last month I read Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk to second grade students at Edward Neill Elementary School. As both a librarian and a writer, I deeply identify with Sam and was happy to share the book with a class of very interested and engaged kids. The cards in the photo above (and more) came in the interschool mail last week.
While the reward of doing these sorts of things is actually in the doing - it's just plain fun - I was pleased to see the handwritten cards as well. Written thank yous are sort of a big deal in my family. (I am not saying you'll never get another gift if one does not send thanks for the previous gift, but I wouldn't take a chance with a couple relatives.) Anyway, my children and now grandchildren seem to be thank you card writers, and I am pleased.
My job is to promote and help people use digital tools. I, personally, would rather send an email or text than a letter or make a phone call. And yet, I also understand the power of seeing a handwritten message, of hearing a human voice, of having a face-to-face conversation.
Call me old fashioned, call me sentimental, but I still like people better than things. And handwritten notes.
Reader Comments (2)
...my thank you note might be the mail...
This that like "the check is in the mail"? (I wonder how much longer that expression will have any meaning?
Doug