This is a tale of one woman’s date with destiny and how simple greeting cards, a get well card, actually changed her whole outlook on life.

It all began on a late summer day three years ago. I received the dreaded call that my 84-year-old mother had fallen and broken her hip. We had no choice but to sell her home and move her into an assisted living facility since she could no longer manage on her own. My kids thought I was the devil incarnate for sending Grandma to “that awful place.” And truth be told, Grandma wasn’t a happy camper during those first few weeks. But then everything changed!

My cousin Carly, bless her soul, decided to pay Grandma a visit. She was bombarded with a litany of complaints ranging from the bland food to the poor housekeeping. Carly tried to comfort Grandma by telling her that things would get better, that everything in life has a purpose and she would soon realize that she was sent to the assisted living facility for a good reason. Grandma didn’t believe any of it and thought that Carly was just trying to cheer her up. But one day she saw the truth in her niece’s words.

As it happened, Joan, one of Grandma’s fellow residents, came down with a nasty cold. She had to take her meals in her room until she felt better. Grandma missed her terribly since they shared the same dining table. So Grandma decided to slip a GalleryCollection.com get well card under Joan’s door. Well, by the time Grandma got back to her room, her phone was ringing. It was Joan thanking Grandma for the beautiful and thoughtful get well card. Grandma later told me, “You would have thought I gave her a million dollars!”

And the rest, as they say, is history. From that day forward, Grandma felt that her reason for being there was to spread some cheer and to make her neighbors feel the joy of knowing that someone was thinking about them and wishing them well. She found that the best way to do this was to send beautiful greeting cards. Not only does she send a get well card to those who fall ill, but she gives out birthday cards and other types of greeting cards too. I guess Grandma will always complain about the bland food (“I’d like to introduce the cook to a spice rack!” she’s been known to say). But three years later, Grandma is a much happier camper and still sending those greeting cards to every one of her neighbors who can use a little bit of sunshine in their day!

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Birthday greetings are in order for June Lockhart and George Orwell as well as Jimmie Walker and Carly Simon.

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Joe Penny, Jeff Beck, Michele Lee, Jack Dempsey all share a birthday with you today.

Personal notecards can mean so much more than greeting cards with preprinted sentiments. Notecards enable those sending the greeting cards to truly get personal when expressing messages to recipients.

I had been ill for several months and received many greeting cards from well wishers. I was and am grateful for each and every one of the greeting cards. I wouldn’t want anyone to think that because they were not notecards I didn’t value them. But there’s just something about getting notecards with personally composed sentiments. Some people just have a knack for being able to express their feelings in notecards. They can use their sense of humor or reminisce about a shared memory. My cousin is a person like this.

My cousin and I spent many vacations with our family. During my illness, she would keep me cheered up by sending me notecards and other fun greeting cards, and enclosing pictures of us on the vacations and other family events. The notecards never failed to make me laugh myself out of the blues.

The crowning glory of her notecard sending was when I was declared fit to resume my life. She sent me a notecard with a picture of a naked baby on a bearskin rug. Inside the greeting card she wrote, “I can barely contain my happiness over your full recovery!” Her P.S. was the kicker: “P.S. I have sent this photo & note to everyone in the family.”

Maybe I should reconsider my support of personal notecards!

The German version of the birthday song is Zum Geburtstag Viel Glück.

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