By AMY SHANKLAND
Sandwiched
On New Year’s Day in 2020, I was relaxing and thinking about how I’d like to celebrate turning 50 in August. Not even dreaming of what lay ahead that year – ahem, WOW – I knew I wanted to do something unique to celebrate the occasion.
Oh sure, I could have had a big party, but my family and I did that for my 40th birthday in 2010. And a party or any kind of get together just didn’t feel right. Little did I know how that feeling was an indicator of what was to come. (Hello, COVID-19!) I actually didn’t want the focus to be on me, but more on those who meant the most to me during this major milestone in my life.
Then it hit me – why not send a card to one person each week for 50 weeks telling them why I loved them? I liked the idea so much, I felt almost giddy. I was already subscribed to Send Out Cards for both business and personal use (sendoutcards.com). Why not use it for this purpose and spare everyone from seeing my dreadful handwriting?
So I marked my calendar to send out a card every Friday morning and made my list of 50 people. That alone was humbling. I felt so blessed to have that many family members and close friends.
It felt wonderful to remember the reasons why everyone was so special to me. If I heard back from them, great! If not, I hoped the card would brighten their spirits. It was heartwarming to hear from those who responded.
One friend, Cindy, loved her card so much that she asked me if she could steal the idea for her 50th birthday celebration in 2021. I enthusiastically replied, “Yes!”
I had forgotten about her request until I got my card from her a few weeks ago. She gets brownie points for her notes – Cindy hand writes them. And I had to wipe away the tears when I read her sweet words.
It seems like now, more than ever, the world is so full of negativity and hate. We all desperately need to not only receive more kindness, but pass it along as well.
It’s pretty common for those of us in the sandwich generation to be in the age range of 45 to 65. So if you like my idea, I want to encourage you to steal it for your own “big” birthday. By the way, it doesn’t have to be 50, 60, or 65 – it’s perfectly okay to do it for any old birthday. You’ll spread love and kindness that just might come back to you tenfold!