Today my brother sent me a birthday card. Now… before you all start wishing me a Happy Birthday… plain and simple… it is not my birthday.
Which brings me to this. I love my brother. Actually, I love both my brothers. Each of them are such incredibly great men. One may be reading this today … he pops in from time to time. The other brother will never see it. He never drops in for a read.
But here is the deal. My two brothers are wonderful guys. I could make a list a mile long about their qualities. They are infinitely kind, caring, loving. Both are smart, creative, innovative, imaginative, sharp-witted, and determined. They are altruistic and compassionate. Strong.
Yet, each of them possesses these characteristics in very unique and different ways. Those two display the same qualities in life…in completely contrasting manners. So much alike, and at the same time… they are like night and day.
But… tonight I started to mention what Ed did…. that crazy guy.
He is the oldest boy in our family. Dashing. A winning smile. Elegant. Funny.
And today he sent me a birthday card.
Simply put… it is just how he is. He was probably out at a store… saw this… and it reminded him of me. So he bought it, and sent it to me… just to say he was sending thoughts my way. And to say….. Happy Birthday.. even though it isn’t.
I love this. It brightened my day to no end.
(Tonight… for Project 188… I literally was going to post a photo and just write underneath… “blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,” Seriously. That was it. That was all I really felt like doing.)
Then I checked the mail… and there was the card from Eddie. I smiled from the inside out.
So that brings me to the next idea.
I think the age of the Greeting Card is coming to an end. It will fall to the wayside. Just as all written word… which is printed in paper form (books, newspapers, programs, pamphlets) … will drift away.
Call me sentimental. But. I don’t want those things to go away. I just don’t.
So I am starting a Campaign. Now… I don’t think we can save all the printed word. But I think we should try to keep the Greeting Card around. I have been inspire-ED by my brother.
And what better way to do this… then send people random Greeting Cards… on their un-birthdays, their un-anniversaries, their un-graduations…. and un-such.
Not On-line Greeting Cards. Those are one of my biggest pet peeves. Blue Mountain.. all the Flash-Generated Online Greeting Cards. Those sites are just ways to Phish for your email addresses. Then the junk email begins. So please… leave me off your electronic greeting card list.
No. I am talking about REAL CARDS. The kind in an envelope.. with a stamp. Those which are delivered by a the Postman.
If someone is not expecting a baby… send them a Congratulations on your new edition card. Send an I’m sorry card for no reason (there is probably a reason you don’t even know about). Yep… buy a Good Luck with your Promotion card… for the un-promoted.
However… I think Sympathy and Get Well cards should be saved for the real occasions. No foreshadowing in those areas. I don’t think it is a good idea.
I think we should call them Edgy Greets. You know. Edgy… like…. cutting-edge, on the fringe, avant-garde, innovative, original… and Greets…. the noun-ish form of greeting… haaaalllllooooo… that sort of thing. Edgy Greets.
So. C’mon people now. Smile on your brother. Everybody get together. Try and love on another. Right now.
Right now.
There is no friend like an old friend who has shared our morning days, no greeting like his welcome, no homage like his praise. – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
I squirrel away sealed greeting cards that people give me so I can open them later when I’m having a bad day. – Emily Proctor