Please say thank you

Thank you for reading my blog.
Please keep reading it.
Simple manners are so easy and quite appreciated.
This weekend I have the task of writing thank-you notes for my birthday gifts. It used to be a joke with friends that within a week of my birthday a thank-you card would arrive. I am not quite as quick these days.
I grew up with a woman who had my brother and me write thank-you notes for gifts received.
On Christmas morning right after we finished opening our gifts we marched to the phone and called all of our grandparents to thank them for their generosity.
As technology advances hand-written notes seem to have disappeared.
At first I was so not OK with this. I know we are all busy. But I am busy, too. And when I take time to buy someone something or make it I expected a hand-written note.
I have gotten a little more lenient on my feelings with this. A hand-written note is always welcomed and appreciated. But I am willing to take an e-mail or e-card. Texts–eh, not so much.
But the very least an acknowledgement is necessary. How does the person know you received the gift if you don’t even let them know it arrived?
There are times when I believe a hand-written note is the only acceptable way to go: wedding gifts; shower gifts; when something is handmade (like when I knit for someone); cash gift …
I looked up what others had to say about thank-you notes. Here is what experts for Oprah have to say: We send thank you notes because we want to be loved and admired.
Emily Post, who I relied on heavily for planning my wedding, says: Handwritten notes are warmer and more special than other forms of thank yous. (And wedding thank-you notes should be written and sent within three months, not a year like a lot of people believe.)
And, think about it, aren’t you excited when you get something in the mail that is not a bill, credit card application or junk mail?