Write It Down

The other night at a school function I stopped to chat with The Athlete's former third grade teacher. She said that although it has been five years since she had The Athlete in class, she thinks of us often because of a note I wrote thanking her for letting The Athlete bring in the gymnastics medals and trophies she had won to share with the class.

I remember that I thought it was so great at the time that her teacher encouraged all of the children during a "news of the day" segment to get up in front of the class and share anything special that had happened to them. This gave The Athlete an opportunity to share her wins with the class.

And so I went to the store and bought a thank you card and wrote her a note to tell her so.

The teacher said she saved notes like the one I had written and pulled them out over the Christmas holiday every year to read again. She said notes like the one I wrote helped her remember why she chose teaching as a career.

And it got me thinking about notes and letters.

Sometimes I will get a letter in the mail from my dad. He is not a big talker. He hasn't visited in 15 years, and he stays pretty quiet at the rare family event.

But his letters are filled with news of his everyday life on his hobby farm in South Dakota. He gives me news of hunters who have come to go pheasant hunting with him and what he is planting or harvesting at the time.

Those letters are a treasure to me. I have kept them over the years with other special notes and letters in a wooden box my son made for me.

Whenever I get one, I get a thrill thinking that someone I love took time out of their day to put pen to paper and send me a note.

Unlike emails, these pieces of paper are a tangible reminder that things I have done have been appreciated and people I care for love me back.

So I encourage you. If someone has done something special for you, or if you know someone who is going through a hard time and needs some encouragement.

Send a note. It just might live forever.