Birthday cards gain mileage when folks forget

Aging isn’t funny, unless we are able to laugh at our own selves.

There’s a certain group of special and particularly social senior people I know, who celebrate their collective birthdays every month. They gather for supper once a month to honor those who are having birthdays. They do the whole cake and candles thing. And they give each other birthday cards.

Greeting cards - public domain photo

But here’s the funny part.

These folks don’t actually sign the birthday cards. Instead, they sign little sticky notes and tuck them into the cards.

“That way, we can reuse the cards next month,” one participant told me. “Greeting cards are pricey these days, so each card becomes like a gift in itself. And most of us won’t remember it anyway.”

It kind of makes sense, doesn’t it? It’s kind of like re-gifting, only a little less tacky. Or maybe more tacky, if you consider the sticky on the notes. (Sorry, had to.)

Stop me, if you’ve heard this one.

Last year, a friend sent me a birthday card that read: “We’ll be friends until we’re old. Then we’ll be new friends again.”

I’m not knocking people who have actual medically diagnosed memory loss issues. It’s just that most of us forget stuff all the time, especially as we grow older. It’s like the old “hereafter” joke: “I find myself thinking more and more about the hereafter. Like I come upstairs and wonder, What did I come up here after?”

By the way, I just had a milestone birthday. But none of my cards contained sticky notes. So I guess I’ll have to buy some new cards for this month’s slew of birthdays.

Maybe going Post-It makes sense.

Images:

Public domain  photo

Feel free to follow Twitter. Please visit my Amazon author page as well. And I am happy to share my RUNDERDOG ambassador code for 10% off on Bondi Band Athletic Headbands, Accessories, and Fashions. (Simply enter the code at online checkout.).

Hung up on hand-me-ups

Ssh! Don’t tell. I’m pilfering my kid’s closet again.

Yeah, I know real grownups aren’t supposed to go out in public in those strappy stretch camisoles, racerback singlets, or  little ribby tank tops. But the colors are fabulously fun. And those little undershirts fit nicely under bigger over-shirts.

Maybe those tiny teen shirts can be almost tasteful, if they are worn beneath other garments. (You didn’t really think I’d wear them without layering, did you? OK, maybe only for running.)

So, if my kids can raid my sock drawer, I can snatch up a tank top now or then. It’s only fair.

Just don’t spill the beans. And I’ll try not to spill out of – oh, never mind.

.

Feel free to follow on Google Plus and Twitter.   

Stranger gifts bring message shifts

We took our toddler to Disneyland when she was nearly three. The week after Thanksgiving, we headed for Anaheim, California, for a week of cartoony pre-Christmas fun. With her plush Mickey Mouse toy in tow, our energetic youngster bounced onto the plane for the trip home. We tried to keep up, while toting a folding Umbrella Stroller, a Booster Seat, and our carry-ons. 

Her antics drew attention in the aisle.

After about an hour in the air, our little one was quite restless. Two sodas, three tiny bags of pretzels, and four trips to the bathroom were not enough. So I took her by the hand, and we went for a stroll up and down the aisle of the plane.

Although I had schooled her repeatedly about stranger-danger, my garrulous girl began chatting up the other passengers. One elderly couple seemed particularly friendly. They began asking her about her pets, favorite foods, most-loved television show, and other details.

“Who did you see at Disney?” Bob asked.

As my little one began rattling off the contents of her Disney Autograph Book, Bob interrupted gently. “Donald Duck is my favorite,” he said.

Within minutes, they were fast friends. The two strangers introduced themselves as Toni and Bob.

“I sure would love to see more of my own grandchildren,” Toni said, grinning at our daughter.

Watch out for weird wonders.

When the aircraft landed, Toni and Bob stayed behind, as the rest of the passengers climbed off the plane. We were waiting our turn as well, since we had so much preschool paraphernalia to tote.

When the crowd thinned out, Toni asked us for our home address. She said she had something special at home, and she wanted to send it for our little girl.

“Lord knows, my own kids don’t need nothing,” she said. I’m pretty sure she rolled her eyes at that point.

At that point, Bob reached inside his briefcase and produced a tiny box. Inside was a little toy ring, like the kind one might find in a Gumball Machine at the grocery store.

I turned to her father and shrugged. These folks seemed safe. He handed Bob his business card and suggested they send their parcel to his office.

We headed for the baggage claim, where we retrieved our luggage and loaded up the car.

Duck! Here come mailings galore.

Less than a week later, a package arrived at the office, addressed to our little girl. A bulging shirt box contained a strange collection of items: a tiny Rag Doll, a Plush Puppy, a rubber-banded bunch of Tootsie Pops, and about seven pieces of Costume Jewelry.

This parcel was followed by weekly shipments of stuff. Comic Books, Candy Bars, Playing Cards, and even Bubble Gum Cigars arrived.

Finally, it stopped in an unexpected manner.

I was determined to make this a teachable moment. Although my daughter could not yet read and write, I decided we would compose a Thank-You Note to Toni and Bob and politely ask them to cease and desist from sending any more items our way.

Gathering pen and paper, along with the return address (clipped from one of their parcels), I sat on the sofa with my daughter in my lap. The morning newspaper was next to me, and it happened to be opened to the obituaries. Something familiar stuck me, as I glanced at the paper.

There, just above the fold, was Toni. Apparently, she had battled cancer for over a year and finally succumbed.

Our thank-you letter then became a sympathy note to Bob, who was not listed among Toni’s surviving family members. Instead, he was mentioned further down, as her “longtime friend.” It seemed the two had never married.

Images:

Airline passengers –

Pixabay public domain photo

Feel free to follow on Google Plus and Twitter.