An Attitude of Gratitude

I have always considered myself a very gracious and thankful person. For a long time, I even thought my name meant “gracious” in Hebrew. Upon Googling the meaning today while writing this post, I learned that my name means “Lilly” in French. Good enough- I’ll take it.

Despite this new information, I will still consider myself a gracious and thankful person. One of my favorite things to do to show my appreciation is to write thank you notes. As a child, my mother wouldn’t let me hang out with my friends until I wrote any thank- you notes that needed writing. After many tantrums, they always got done. But boy, am I glad I had all that practice. Now that I have a career in philanthropy, I write a lot cards and notes. I average about five a week on a good week. On a personal level, every time I get a thank-you note or a handwritten letter, my heart swells with happiness. To get something so intimate in the mail is so rare these days.

But for me, writing thank-you notes are a family affair. My father who also works in philanthropy spends a great deal of time writing notes and letters to donors, volunteers, families, and community partners.  My mother on the other hand, spends time writing notes to personal contacts. I can’t tell you how many times that I have found my mother on a weekend morning in her pajamas writing thank-you notes at our kitchen table. Hell, my cousin just sent my mother a handwritten letter last month. Trust me, we’re old school.

Nevertheless, what takes the cake for me is the use of personalized stationery. As a child, my loving and daughter-less aunt would buy me personalized stationery and post-its for Hanukah. To me, this was such a thoughtful and practical gift. After finally running out of supplies, I recently decided on and ordered monogrammed embossed stationery that fits perfectly into my lifestyle. I couldn’t be more pleased with my choice.

Now, I’m off to write thank-you notes for a charity function I hosted a few weeks ago. Maybe, if you’re lucky you’ll find a note in your mailbox!