Thank-You Note

My wife received a thank-you note from someone today. This is not just anyone.

The person she received a thank-you note from has a husband who is dying from cancer right now. He does not have much longer to live. This has been a long battle, he has fought bravely and he has lived much longer than the doctors thought he would. But, his time is coming to an end.

The family has little children as well. In the past few months the wife’s mother died from cancer. Her husband is staying in the hospital because his body is too weak for him to live at home right now. So you can imagine how much time they spend at the hospital.

I can’t imagine the stress and anxiety she is living through right now.

Yet, she found the time to make a handmade card and write a thank-you note for a minor thing that my wife did to help.

Do you know how much this thank you note meant to my wife?

What’s Your Excuse?

The common courtesy of writing thank-you notes is something that is, unfortunately, a dying thing.

I am horrible at writing thank-you notes.

I am horrible at writing thank-you notes when my life does not include the prospect of a spouse passing away and dealing with how to help young children deal with losing their dad.

I know that I don’t have any excuse for being so lousy at this other than laziness.

How is your track record at writing thank-you notes?

If it is lousy, what’s your excuse?

The Moral: Write Thank-You Notes, You Have No Excuse

Writing a thank-you note is a small gesture that means a lot. It does not take much time and the time invested is well worth what it means to the person who receives it.

If you owe someone a thank you, go right now and write them a note. Everyone who reads this can probably think of someones they can say thank you to.

Shut off your browser, don’t email the person, but hand write them a note. Both they and you will be thankful you did.