Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

In the late 1980s I worked at a Hallmark store in Oak Park Mall in Austin.  I was in college at the time.  I had a limited budget, but cards were affordable.

I enjoyed sending or giving cards to people for every holiday and extra celebrations like Grandparents Day.

It was always fun to hear the stories behind the cards that were purchased.

Customers would share their excitement over a new baby, a wedding, a graduation and other special occasions. Today in our digital world, sending a card seems like an old fashioned, time consuming luxury, but that is why it is such a treasure to receive one. The person sending the card will spend a lot of time thinking about YOU as they choose the card, write in the card, address the card and finally mail the card, after they buy a stamp.

Today I make my own cards. I bought a package of blank watercolor cards.  I paint and someone else writes in it for me,

I talked to a woman a few months ago who had just recovered from an illness: “I never knew how healing it is to receive a card when you are sick,” she said. But I knew exactly what she was talking about. 

Since my ALS diagnosis, I have received many cards and each one provides me with a little extra emotional strength which I am grateful for.