Happy Thanksgiving!

office bulletin board

Happy Thanksgiving week for those of you in the United States. When I was teaching English, one of my favorite activities on the Tuesday before the holiday was to have my students write thank you cards. They could pick anyone—a teacher, a friend, a family member, or even an influential adult. They wrote on real, blank greeting cards that had to be snail mailed (which meant they learned how to address an envelope in this era of email). I dropped them at the post office after school and the cards went around the country. When we returned on Monday, the students would often tell me the results. “My grandma cried.” “My pastor was so surprised.” “My friend thought it cool.”

In a world of go, go, go, my students took a few moments to say thank you to people who mattered in their life or who gave them something without asking for anything in return. In my basement, I have a tub where I’ve kept every letter a former student ever sent me. On a board in my office, you’ll note the cards along the bottom. When you send a card, it matters. In fact, even though my best friend Liz sends me memes nonstop, she also sends me cards as well. Can you guess which one she sent? And if you look on the right side of the board you’ll see two pieces of artwork done by my grandniece as a thank you for sending her the children’s book Olivia the Pig. I was delighted to be the recipient of such thoughtful present.

This thanksgiving, I wanted to spend a quick moment telling you how grateful I am to have you in my life. My writing career would be a lonely place without you and I’m grateful you’ve joined me on this journey! I get to tell stories because you want to read them, and for that I’m so thankful.

My wish for you is that you have a wonderful weekend filled with joy. And watch this space next Tuesday when I debut my Christmas story, which will be free on Kindle Unlimited. If you want a preview, it’s here.

Until then, thank you again from the bottom of my heart.

Michele