A box set of stationery is one of the treasures I look for when at a gift store or dime store. The crinkled, decorative edges and textured paper bring back memories of writing letters and notes as a child. I have a set of vintage stationery with gold edges, complete with envelopes. When I sit at my writing desk, it is a time of quiet where I can gather my thoughts and put pen to paper. As I was on-line looking up creative ideas, I found stickers that say “Happy Mail” We all like to get positive mail. These stickers are an added addition to mail I send. A little positive saying can bring happiness.

We text and email, but there is something in receiving a note, card or letter that is handwritten. It is a suprise to see handwritten mail when I get our mail from the mailbox. When I see someone’s handwriting, I sometimes know whom the greetings are from. At other times, it is a guessing game which I think, “Whom could this be from?”

Writing has always been a habit or pasttime. I have notebooks, lists and lists for my lists. My mind seems to be thinking of ideas or thoughts and writing them down helps to accomplish goals or just to see them in print.

Writing your thoughts takes time and care. As I started on this writing journey, I learned to keep writing. Fixing spelling mistakes and moving thoughts around can wait. I share with my students to keep writing. When thoughts are on paper, we can see our ideas. There’s always time to go back and fix things we want to sound or flow better.

Each year, I get mail from a former student’s family. Helene is now a freshman in high school. She was in my kindergarten class years ago. Each December and June I get mail to let me know the updates in their family. I enjoy that in part of the greetings, they write in German and then write the English translation. The greeting in June is always a postcard from Germany due to them visiting family each summer. In June, I think “I wonder what the postcard design will be?” It is a nice highlight to look forward to each summer.

In almost twenty years of teaching, my heart is filled with joy when I hear from students’ family. Sometimes it is a handwritten note or card updating me on their lives. High school graduation announcements and wedding announcements are more common these days. It is humbling that after all of this time, I hear these wonderful updates about students who touched my heart.

May we look for ways to show appreciation through words. May we take the time to make our thoughts meaningful. May we think of someone to put pen to paper and send a note or card of gratitude.