thank you

BITNF turns FOUR YEARS OLD TODAY!  I remember celebrating the one-year anniversary at a restaurant—it was a big deal.  Mind you, getting the momentum going for one year was probably more note-worthy than keeping it going another three.  I have topics lined up for the rest of 2018 and feel like I have finally got back to a regular writing and posting schedule (twice-monthly) since the move home.  Whenever I take the time, I am reminded how much I love writing (and rewriting and rewriting). 

I grew up being forced to write thank-you notes after receiving birthday and Christmas gifts.  My mother was strict about it.  As a child, I hated the pressure to put some stilted and formulaic words on paper.  Maybe I should have tackled it in a more creative way, like by offering a poem.  I did not like writing thank-you notes after my wedding either.

When my Aunt V was doing her own sorting of stuff two years ago, she found a couple thank you notes I had written as a child and sent them to me.  What fun to receive them in the mail!  I laughed at my words: “I am very sorry that I’m late with this letter but I’ve been so busy.”

I think writing thank you’s became easier because feeling gratitude became easier.

My mother liked sending hand-written letters and never switched to email.  After she passed on in 2011, I took her large collection of unused cards and notepaper back west with me in my suitcase and sent most of it to a cat shelter that I supported.  The shelter had grown considerably since I adopted Greta in 2001 but they still sent hand-written thank-you cards for donations so I figured they might use the stationary.

I was delighted to receive a note from them in the mail: “Thanks so much for your large package of cards.  They’re wonderful – and it’s just like Christmas!”  Later when I received a thank you for $ I donated, enough time had passed that I was startled to see it written on my mom’s notepaper.  It was like I’d received something from Mom in the mail.  Of course.

Years seem to pass more quickly with age but 2014, when I started this blog, seems a very very long time ago to me now.  So much has changed.  Some things I was certain about then I’m not certain about now.  I am glad to be back here in Nova Scotia and I am more comfortable with my home base but I am feeling a bit adrift lately, particularly on my Buddhist path.  I don’t know yet what’s next but I always feel gratitude for the choices I have.  Four years ago, I thought being here was the goal—right now it feels like a first stepping stone.

Dear readers – a big THANK YOU for following me on this adventure and for your encouragement on my writing.  Your comments and emails are welcome.  Regards, Sheri

Related links:

• start of the fourth quarter (post #62)
• why back is the new forward (post #1)