Personalized greeting cards, such as birthday cards, get well cards, and sympathy cards, can be taken for granted. But I can tell you from first-hand experience how important these greeting cards can be.

Losing a loved one can be such a tremendously devastating time. Not that sympathy cards can make this tragedy any easier, but to know that people are thinking of you and your family and are taking the time out in their busy day to buy and send cards can make a sad day a little better.

Get well cards can also make big difference in how you feel and how quickly you recover. Not to long ago I was out of work for approximately four months. I have to tell you that there was not one day of those four months that I did not receive a card in the mail from my co-workers, family, or friends. It was the highlight of my day to walk to the mailbox and find a new card. Most of the time they were funny get well cards, and laughter is great medicine.
In this economy it is often hard to buy presents for all the people we would like. However birthday cards can be a great way of telling friends and family that you are thinking about them and wishing them well on their special day.

Moral of the story - don’t hesitate to send different kinds of personalized greetings cards to all the people who matter most to you.

My twelve-year-old was doing a report on sheep. As I read it over (she is still at the stage where I am allowed to see her work), it struck me that the word “carding” took on a different meaning for me.

Technically the term carding means to cleanse, disentangle, and collect together (as fibers) by the use of cards preparatory to spinning. When I thought of the hundreds of times I sent greeting cards for one occasion or another, I realized that I was carding too.

Get well cards are an attempt to “cleanse” a person of illness. Similar to prayers, they help the sender to express a wish for recovery, and at the same time help the recipient to feel cleansed and refreshed in the knowledge that someone cares.

Sympathy cards help us to disentangle some of the emotions that explode upon us in times of trial. Even if it is just for a moment, they take our thoughts to a different place – a place where we can reflect upon the thoughtfulness of others and feel some semblance of peace.

Birthday cards gather together all of the fun and joy of celebrating most everyone’s favorite day.

Finally, I thought, these greeting cards are also preparation for spinning the thread that will become the story – the story of recovery, moving on, or subsequent birthdays for all of the people who are remembered with the greeting cards in their lives.

What do business get well cards have to do with pillows? That thought crossed my mind as we were looking over the new 2009 get well cards designs this morning. Design #115AY, Vintage Get Well Card, is a floral design reminiscent of years gone-by. One of my co-workers chimed in saying it reminded her of her favorite pillow called “Rosie.” Apparently, “Rosie” took her through good times and bad. Actually, some other co-workers remembered “Rosie” as Lindsey took her on a business road trip. That is one aspect of comparing get well cards to a pillow but when you think of it…if you are under the weather is there anything more welcoming than a pillow to lay your head down on or business get well cards received from your co-workers or business associates to cheer you up?

Design #115AY Vintage Get Well Card

Design #109AR, Wishing You Well Greeting Card, is another classic design that can be used to send your wishes to co-workers, family, or friends. It is a simple, stylish design that is sure to show your recipient that you care and you wish them well. The design is stylish but generic enough to send to anyone and is sure to bring warm thanks for your thoughtfulness. Many of us have spent time out of work nursing either an injury or sickness. When someone is not feeling well, opening a get well card and seeing that you are remembered by someone at work goes a long way to helping you recover.

Design #109AR Wishing You Well Greeting Card

Do people who receive get well cards actually recover faster than those who suffer in solitude? Proponents of positive thinking would agree that well wishes and greeting cards from the world outside the sickroom can’t help but have a healing effect. When I’m not feeling well, even if it’s only a temporary state, it’s easy to fall into an “invalid mode,” moping about in a weakened state and feeling left out of life as though I’ll never again be myself. So, when a delightful dose of sunshine comes to me via greeting cards in my mailbox, it’s amazing how my spirits and attitude get a burst of good energy.

Some get well cards will make you laugh, even though it may hurt to laugh; for instance, right after surgery. Some greeting cards can be so touching to you that they give you “misty” eyes. The best may be those greeting cards whose pretty designs cause you to smile every time you glance at them, because the greeting cards bring to mind the kind and thoughtful people who sent them. You could even get all three of those reactions from a single get well card sent from an unexpected source.

When I’m unable to say “Get Well Soon” to a person with a chronic or terminal illness, I will still send a gentle-looking greeting card that says “Thinking of You.”  I hope the greeting card helps them feel less isolated by knowing that I remember them and care about their situation. Even friends who are “sick at heart” over personal setbacks can use pleasant notecards to point them toward a brighter day. My rule of thumb is to ask myself, “Would I like to be thought about when I’m away from social action?” (Of course I do!) “Do I want to answer the door or the phone to visitors?’ (Oh my goodness, NO!) “Would get well cards make me feel better?” (You bet it would!)  And then I go ahead and do just what I planned to all along…I send the cheeriest greeting cards I can find!

Business get well cards are among the different types of corporate greeting cards that companies often send. While these cards are usually passed around within an office for a variety of serious ailments, another reason to send these types of greeting cards is to spread humor and cheer among co-workers.

For instance, one day I missed an afternoon of work due to a dental appointment. This appointment arose from an incident where, during a particularly vivid dream, I managed to chip a tooth on the corner of my nightstand. When I got to work the next day, I found a corporate get well card in my inbox, compliments of a bemused co-worker. I managed to return the favor when the same co-worker suffered a minor ankle-sprain as a result of the all-too-uncommon ping pong injury. And since our supervisor, a notorious foot-shuffler, suffers from an acute static-electricity problem during the winter months, one fellow employee managed to have fun passing out get well cards to her numerous shock victims.

As you can see, some of the more humorous uses of business get well cards can help keep the mood light while fostering positive feelings among the office staff.

Here’s a little story of business get well cards and a visit to my doctor…

If you are anything like me, you really have to be feeling pretty bad to call and make an appointment to go see a doctor.  Who wants to waste a vacation day or leave work early to go sit in the waiting room of a doctor’s office with a bunch of other people sneezing, coughing, and spreading their germs on you?  I am convinced that at this point you are actually getting sicker than you were when you walked in.

But there are three things I can always count on when I dial the phone number to make an appointment.  The first is that I know I will always be caught up on all my news and gossip, as my doctor subscribes to every magazine available.  The second is that I will go home with a great new recipe since we all watch the Food Network while sitting in the waiting area.  And the third is that I know in a couple of days my get well card will be arriving in the mail.

I had never even heard of such a thing…doctors sending get well cards?  I mean, can you imagine how many cards they must send out each year?   But when I’ve thanked my doctor in the past and expressed that I thought this was a great gesture to his patients, he always replies that this is his business, and just like any other company or organization who orders business get well cards for their employees or clients, he does the same.  I guess it’s not so bad after all to go and watch TV, read a magazine, and then get some mail a couple days later that isn’t a credit card offer or a bill!

I was sitting here eating a pickle and thought: “I should send get well cards to my brother-in-law.” I know…what does a pickle have to do with greeting cards, or for that matter my brother-in-law? Are you thinking that I want to say my brother-in-law is sour? Or are you thinking that I get a scrunched up face when I think of him? Actually, I really like my brother-in-law. He’s a little guy with a great sense of humor, but he doesn’t really resemble a pickle. Isn’t it strange how one thought will trigger another?

Here’s the story of get well cards and Bobby, my brother-in-law, and how I found out he loves greeting cards as much as I do. A few years ago, I was at my sister’s house in New Mexico and she said, “You have to see Bobby’s collection of greeting cards from you. He has them all arranged on the windmill.” Sure enough there were birthday cards, thinking of you cards, and a few just for laughs cards. He saved all of the greeting cards I sent him and right in front was a card with a pickle on the front, which he claims is his favorite.

Unfortunately, Bobby recently had a stroke and is in rehab doing physical therapy to regain use of his left arm and leg. I like to send him a few greeting cards a week to encourage him and keep him cheered up. So I sent off the get well card, but regrettably, I couldn’t find one with a pickle.

I’ve noticed that among our family and friends, we seem to acquire labels. Perhaps among your acquaintances, you can name the best cook or the trivia buff, the gullible one or the cynic, the non-stop talker or the shrinking violet, the athlete or the know-it-all. In my family and circle of friends, I am known as “the thoughtful one.” This actually was an easy reputation to acquire; I’m a habitual sender of personalized greeting cards. I’ve been like this since early childhood, when I carefully made my own cards with construction paper and crayons. Later, as a stay-at-home Mom with a budget as small as my tykes, I sometimes got pretty creative with my homemade greeting cards.

As interests and activities multiplied, social circles kept expanding. My siblings, cousins, and friends acquired spouses, children, and eventually, grandchildren. Even my children and their friends acquired children! Alas, time flew and before I knew it, I had at least two full-time jobs and a list of birthdays a mile long, which now also included business associates who had become friends. And let me tell you, when you’ve “spoiled” people by always remembering their birthdays, they won’t let you get away with suddenly “not remembering.”

I had long since converted from homemade to store bought cards but found my shopping trips for greeting cards to be too frequent. I even missed an occasional birthday or anniversary mailing; I just couldn’t find time for the card hunt! A few years ago, I found my solution and salvation. I now keep on hand a beautiful box of assorted birthday cards. At a glance to the calendar or on a moment’s notice, having this box of assorted greeting cards means that I’m always prepared to send off happy birthday greetings…without delay!

I also started keeping a stockpile of assorted greeting cards for other occasions so I’m always prompt with sympathy cards, thank you cards, anniversary cards, and get well cards. I even have a supply of blank note cards for when I just want to let someone know that I’ve been thinking of them.

No one suspects how easy and economical it is for me to be so thoughtful. But I’ve heard some lovely comments over the years: “You always remember,” “Every year I look forward to getting your beautiful birthday card,” “It wouldn’t seem like my birthday without getting your cheery card.” And there it is, with so many less complimentary titles that might have been applied to me, I have been labeled as “the thoughtful one.”