Chat with Deb—Sneaking Around on a Mission
Small investments for small smiles — totally worth it
DEB: Oh honey, you printed them! So we’re doing this again this year?
ME: Is that okay?
DEB: Of course! It’s fun to think some people will get a smile or a chuckle when they go to their mailbox.
ME: Not the postal delivery person¹, of course.
DEB: Can’t make everybody happy, Jackster!
Two years ago, Gail Boenning put out the idea of leaving thank you cards at neighbors’ houses to thank them for putting up fun holiday decorations. Since then we’ve taken her idea and scampered around the neighborhood with it.
Gail used to post a lot on Medium, but she’s been going in a different direction the past couple years or so with 3musesmerge on Substack. And in the past year she fought (AND WON!) against breast cancer and COVID-19. She looks great.²
I mess with Gail’s original wording every year. This year the cards read:
In this year of ups and downs, thank you for lighting and delighting our December. Your fun and festive display gives us smiles whenever we pass by.
Happy Holidays! A Grateful Neighbor
Our first year it was so cold we had to take off our glasses because we kept frosting over; last year it was so warm we ended up shedding layers as we went. This year the weather was perfect and we finished inside twenty minutes.
DEB: Thank you, honey! That was fun!
ME: Thank you, m’love! (smooch)
¹For readers outside the States, our postal system makes it illegal to put anything other than USPS-delivered mail into an official mailbox. We did it anyway.³
²I’ve known Gail a few years online. I may be prejudiced. 😉
³ If you get an email asking for bail money, it’s a scam — we have clean records and we should be able to be released on our own recognizance. (Probably.)
