I’m planning a wedding, with that comes thank you notes. It and baby showers are perhaps the two occasions that we haven’t stopped sending thank you notes after. Everything else? It’s seen as going above and beyond. A text will do.

And it does do, I have used a thank you text many times. It’s certainly easier, but maybe that’s why it doesn’t mean as much. Handwritten notes simply mean more, and when do you really want people to know that something meant a lot to you? When you’re thanking them. I think it’s time to bring the thank you note back. After Christmas. After a surprise party. After being hosted for dinner or the weekend. I think we should work on how often we give hostess gifts too, but maybe I’m getting a little too southern. But hey, this is Anna Down South I’m writing on. My thank you notes currently have my monogram on them. Maybe my drive to bring in more hospitality into my life stems from my southern upbringing.

Regardless of what triggered this, I want to say that I too am lazy. In fact, I excel at being lazy, and these extra steps to show gratitude are not for the lazy, or the busy, or those of us that manage to be both. I understand that, but that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be a thing. If we become to busy for all common courtesies we’re going to get to the point where we slam doors in peoples faces instead of holding them open. And that’s just regressive.

So I’m proposing that we revive the dying thank you note. I’ve written about snail mail before and how it brings joy to people, I think a thank you note does that and more. Sure, it’s a bit traditional, but when you receive one you feel good about yourself, you feel like you matter, and it makes you want to act again. These are all good things, and we need a little more hospitality in this hostile world.