Finally read my mail...

So, I opened my mail tonight.  Now, many of you are thinking... "So?  I do that every day.  What's blog-worthy about opening your mail?"  Well, let me try and explain.

You see, I usually open my mail about once a week.  I don't get that much each day, and given that most of the time I spend with my mail involves the pre- and post-opening activities, it's much more efficient to wait until the stack is of reasonable size before opening it.  Let's be honest, there's just not much that comes in the mail that can't wait a few days - if it was that urgent, it wouldn't come in the mail to start with.

But the past month has been anything but "usual."  With mom's time in the hospital and death, I just never got around to it.  I would see the pile continue to grow each day, but wouldn't be in the right frame of mind to open it.  So it sat... until today.

It was an interesting read.  I started by dividing it into 3 categories: sympathy cards, tax info, and other mail.  Most of the "other" mail was bills (don't worry, all my bills are auto-paid, so nothing was late).  Not much unexpected there.  The tax info was... well.. tax info.  It's now filed and waiting for the rest to come in.

The sympathy cards were the biggest part, and the most interesting.  If you've ever worried about finding "the right card," quit worrying.  I can tell you from experience that the most important thing is the return address.  What?  Did you read that right?  the return address?!?  Yes.  The return address.  You see, what matters most is that people took the time to let you know they cared and are praying.  And you find out who those people are by the fact that they sent a card at all. 

The second most important thing is the quick note written inside.  I can't speak for everyone, but I rarely read the "official" (pre-printed) words in the card.  There are only so many sympathy cards out there, and duplicates are almost inevitable.  In addition, there are no "perfect words" that can be said.  What matters is that you took the time to write something just from you, not from the card company.  It doesn't even have to be a whole sentence, just a word or two is enough.

The end of the card pile was especially interesting.  About 2/3rd of the way through, I ran into a couple of birthday cards, which was nice.  Then, as I got to the very end, I ran into Christmas cards.  Some were actually "New Years" cards, and some were the late coming cards that I hadn't opened yet.  That was really nice.  It's always fun to read Christmas cards.

So, as I look back, I think this was probably a really boring post.  No deep thoughts, no new revelations.  Just an excessively long status update.  But, I've already typed all this, so I'll post it anyway.

Oh, and for those of you who sent me a card... thanks.