A week after Christmas, when I was growing up, my mother would sit my brother and me down at the kitchen table and provide us with clean paper and a pencil to write thank you notes. Each of us had a list of who gave what. Note writing was not a chore I looked forward to because I never knew what to say.
Years later, I discovered, a template for making thank you notes easier to write.
- State the reason for the gift.
- State what the gift was.
- What enjoyment have you received from the gift?
- Closing remarks. Add something personal.
Here is an example:
Thank you for the booklet of movie passes you sent me for Christmas.
I love going to the movies with my friends. I just used the first pass Friday. My friends and I saw A Star is Born. I loved the music and the story.
Have you seen it? I think you would enjoy Lady Gaga.
If you haven’t sent your special thank you
Thank you notes are part of “Thankful-living.” It offers us the opportunity to acknowledge the gifts and the thought behind them. Thank you notes demonstrate we not only appreciate the present but we also recognize the giver for their time and ideas in preparing the gift. It is an honor to be remembered.
You can use thank you notes for acts of kindness, sharing of wisdom, or anything that may seem unimportant to most but touched your heart, made life more comfortable or happier and provided comfort.
If each of us wrote one thank you note, can you imagine how much brighter our world will be?
Question
Do you think writing thank you notes are a chore or an opportunity?
Please leave a comment below.
Well said, Lyn. Every now and then, it’s nice to send someone a totally unexpected Thank You. My son told of a high school teacher who told his class, “You can’t possibly do anything to upset me today. A former student called me to say “thank you,” and that outweighs anything else that happens.”
Thank you for the Thank you note. It is a simple thing that carries a lot of weight.