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This one felt good

Over the past week or so, I had given a lot of thought as to whom I should send my next thank-you note. Joe Paterno's family crossed my mind, because he did mean something to me, and I wanted to thank his family for sharing him with so many of us. But the family has received thousands of cards, so I don't think my one card is going to mean much to them. I might still send one, but not for awhile.

I also thought about sending a note to Amy over at Callapitter. Because of her, I try to treasure the moments I spend with my kid more so than I might have had I never came to know her. But that note does not feel quite right either. If I had lost my kids, I am not sure how much I would appreciate someone with children thanking me for helping her appreciating her children. So I am going to sit on the idea of that note for a bit (or maybe forever) as well.

This morning I woke up to the annoyance of a fire whistle followed by several loud fire trucks. I was silently cursing them, since it was only 7 a.m., and I had longed to sleep until 8 after having gotten up at 6 a.m. all week and having two rather sleepless nights. But after I lied awake for about 30 minutes, I realized that I had little to complain about. I was in my warm bed and did not have to leave it. On the other hand, those firefighters were out risking their lives in freezing temps and snowy weather.

So later that morning, I wrote a small check to my local fire department and included a brief note thanking them for helping out the community and risking their lives. I forget what else I said, other than I used the words "appreciation" and "gratitude" but hopefully that note will be an unexpected but welcome surprise, even more so than they money.

Yeah, that one definitely felt good.

Comments

LaLa said…
I think that was a GREAT idea for a thank you note. I bet the firefighters appreciated it. I don't suppose people send them ones ordinarily.
bluzdude said…
What a great idea. When we think about it, we have it pretty good.

You not only have the firemen out there in the cold battling the fire, but you may also have some people that no longer have bed to cuddle up in. (Assuming that was a house fire and not some abandoned warehouse.)
Facie said…
LaLa: I cannot remember if I read this in the original article where I got my idea from or somewhere else, but a teacher who had received a thank-you note said it was her first in all her years of teaching. I could not believe that. So, yes, I have to imagine that a random person who has not needed (and hopefully never will) a firefighter's help would probably not send a note.

Bluz: I try to remind myself how good I have it as often as I can. Doing this thank-you note thing helps.

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