Next Up!

You may not think that my brother's brother-in-law would top my list of thank yous, but it just so happens that he did.  Jared is married to my sister-in-law's sister, Jessy.  Aside from immediate family, he is one of the first people I wanted to send a letter to.  In the few short years that I have known him, he has built my brother's house, remodeled my parent's bathroom, built a deck and trashcan container for them ... along with other stuff that I'm forgetting to mention. 

I'm not very good at much.  I can type at fast speeds and talk even faster.  That's about the extent of my talents.  Luckily, I have found a use for the former.  Jared has a talent for carpentry and has used it to make life a little easier for those I love most.  When my brother remodeled -- OK, rebuilt -- his home a few years ago, Jared was there beside him the whole time. 

At the time DJ rebuilt his home, my family was not in the best place.  Unfortunately, we are still there.  We put our home in Pennsylvania on the market to try and sell it, decided to rent it out, evicted the first tenants, put it back on the market, rented it out again ... and that cycle continued for a bit.  Brad and I were back and forth to Pennsylvania every weekend dealing with one issue or another, which limited the time we could help my brother with his house.  In turn, Brad tried to help DJ in the home-building process by helping him at work.  In the end, I've always been thankful to Jared for being there for DJ and Julie and helping them build their beautiful home.  (Really, their house belongs in a Better Homes and Garden issue.) 

Jared is an all-around nice guy and was there for my brother at a time that I let him down.

A Moment of Clarity

I have found in writing these cards that some of the people closest to me can be the hardest to write. I have written probably three drafts of a letter to my parents. What do I say? Do I thank them for years and years of giving and taking care of me? Do I thank them for the most recent way they have helped me and my family? Do I focus on one event? Do I make it a broad spectrum "thank you?"

I want my thank-you notes to be about specific ways each person has touched my life, but my parents are constantly affecting my life for the better. They are two of the most sacrificing people I know, especially when it comes to my brother and me and our kids. If I were to write a thank you for everything I could think of, it would be a book!

In writing this blog post, I have figured out how to "tackle" my thank you to my parents. I need to separate them and write a letter to each individual parent. Duh! That is what I did for Brad's parents; why didn't I think of that for my own? This will be much easier. Now, I'm off to write their thank yous!

Mitzy's Adventures

Another person on my list of "thank yous" is Patricia Damm. Miss Pat is one of my favorite people from UMBC. She worked in the Office of Student Life while both Brad and I were there and she just adored Brad. When we graduated, Brad and I would go back to campus just to visit her and hear stories about Mr. Bill, her mom and her dog, Mitzy. She retired not long after we graduated and we have not seen her since I was pregnant with Little Brad. She is someone that touched my life for the short time she was a part of it. I have planned to visit her at her house for a couple of years now. Somehow it has not happened. Along with this thank-you project, I need to put visiting Miss Pat on my priority list.

Number 2

Kim Bear was Community Director at UMBC while I was a Resident Assistant there. She was my boss and I loved working for her. Recently, I considered applying at UMBC to work as a community director, the position that Kim held. I have always loved Student Life and would like to work at a college, but is being a community director right for me? It's a live-on-campus position, it can have an unpredictable schedule, and I would have to take a pay cut to work the position. I decided to ask Kim for her advice regarding my application.

I contacted Kim and she immediately made herself available to talk with me about the pros, cons and potential hang-ups of my application. It was great talking to her after all these years and I truly appreciated her willingness to talk to me and her openness about the position. I decided not to apply for the position. I think Brad and I could make it work for our family, but it just does not fit our long-term goals. For her time and support, I have sent Kim Bear a thank you card.

The First of Many

The first person on my list for a Thank You card was my brother-in-law Bruce. After all, he was the inspiration for this project. It was nice to take a moment to reflect on the past few years of my life, the good, the bad and the avoidable, and to think of Bruce's part in it. I enjoyed writing his card and I hope that he is happy that it was written.

We're on Our Way

Easter is just twelve days away and I have written twenty-five thank you cards. At this point, I have only delivered a few of those. There is a big stack of stamped and addressed envelopes sitting on my passenger car seat. I really need to get those in the mail!

I started my project with a list of names. Initially, I came up with a list of about fifteen people that I "owed" a thank you ... or many thank yous. I thought I would never have a list of forty people! After I had some names down, I began writing the letters. Some of the letters came easily. I knew what I wanted to say and just needed to say it. Other letters have not come so easily, either because I've had too much to say and don't know what to focus on (as is the case with my parents) or I knew what I wanted to say and just didn't know how to say it.

As I have gone through Lent with this project in mind, my list has grown from fifteen people to a list of forty-nine name and the list is still growing! When I started this project, I thought forty names would be a challenge. Now, I know that I may have forty thank you cards mailed and delivered by Easter Sunday, but the project will not end then.