Thank You Notes

When I was young, my mother and grandmother expected me to write thank you notes to the people, usually older relatives, who gave me gifts.  It was battle of wills after Christmas and my birthday.  They insisted I write the notes, I hated the process, never knew what to say and so always resisted.  As an adult, I do a terrible job of thank you notes.  I always say Thank You in person.  I always send Thank You notes via email. But hand write Thank You notes?  Not so much.  It's a lesson I did not learn in my youth.

While writing thank you notes can be tedious, receiving them is wonderful.  That is why you are supposed to write them, after all.  You want the person who thought enough of you to get you a gift, or do something nice for you, to understand that you appreciate the time and energy they spent on you.

I received a wonderful surprise last week in the form of an envelope full of 14 thank you notes written by the members of the HCC Textiles class that came out here on a field trip last month.  I was totally delighted.  They each expressed gratitude for the chance to come out and see the fiber process in real life, to see what they had studied really happen.  And they could not have been kinder about how much they enjoyed spending time with me, seeing my animals and watching me spin and weave.  They each said they had learned a lot and thought the work we do out here is lovely.

All of these students said thank you as they were leaving.  Many of them told me how much they appreciated coming out here which is pretty much exactly what they said in their notes.  But they took the time to write it all out and in a couple of cases draw pictures too.  What a wonderful thank you to receive.  

Its no surprise that the class will be welcomed back out here next year.  It will be different students but it will probably be the same teacher, Shata Beveridge.  Thank you Shasta!