Thanks

December 11 – Gracias (Thanks)
Appreciation and acknowledgement are corner stones to building trust and deepening relationships. Write a thank you note or poem to someone who impacted your life in 2011.


Dear Cousin Trudie -
This time last year I was throwing anything within reach into a suitcase to get to the airport. Weeks earlier you called and told me you'd like to pay for me and my six kids to fly home to spend Christmas with my mom. We all knew it would be her last Christmas, but I couldn't accept a gift with such a huge financial cost. You insisted and I resisted. Finally, your husband sent me a Facebook message telling me not to "be an ass" and accept the gift. The gift wasn't to me, it was to my mom. OK, we'll book the flight. Oh my god the cost for seven people to fly, I don't know that I can ever repay this. How do you even begin to say thank you for something so priceless?


Dear AirTran representatives -
Thank you for helping me to quickly reschedule my Christmas Day flight to Christmas Eve once we realized the entire Northeast part of the country was going to be snowed in. It was about 2:30pm Christmas Eve when you asked if I could make a 5pm flight. Yes, no matter what, I will get us to the airport in time! (Hence the throwing things into suitcases). Thank you to the AirTran flight attendants who helped me arrange seating on the plane so that one of the older kids was sitting next to one of the younger kids on our flight from Memphis to Atlanta and then Atlanta to Philly.


Dear Hertz Rental Car employee -
Thank you for staying past your scheduled closing time, knowing that my plane wouldn't land until after midnight and I needed a car big enough to get all seven of us up to my moms house in the very, very early hours of Christmas morning. Thank you for your kindness in not only upgrading our rental, but having it full of gas and warmed up and running for us as we got there. Also thank you for your help in loading the suitcases and sleeping kids into the car.


Dear American Express representative -
Thank you for taking my call at about 1:30am on Christmas morning to figure out why my card wouldn't work. You realized it was an error and we were able to fix it quickly so that I could put my six very tired kids (and one exhausted momma) into the Hertz upgraded SUV and begin drive home to my mom. A drive that was now happening in the beginning of a blizzard.

Dear weather gods -

Thank you for giving my children a white Christmas. My Southern kids don't often get to see snow, and the chance to sled down the same hill that I sled on as a kid was priceless. Although, I must admit, as an adult standing at the bottom of the hill in the biting wind and blowing snow, it isn't as much fun as I remember it being as a kid myself.

Dear Mom -

Thank you for hanging on for just one more Christmas. I think you knew things were getting worse, but you also knew we needed this time together. Thank you for sitting in the cold ice rink and laughing as the kids ice skated. I know it must have been torture on your hurting body, but we all laughed and had so much fun. I hope its a memory the kids will always have of you. 
Thank you for teaching me when to graciously accept a gift. Thank you for teaching me to be the kind of mom not afraid to travel alone with six kids and the confidence to handle the stress that brings with a sense of humor. Thank you for always providing a safe place to land, not just early on Christmas morning, but any time I needed it. Thank you for being an awesome Mimi to so many grandchildren. 
Thank you for one last Christmas.


This post is part of #reverb11, a series of daily writing prompts to explore the year passed and manifest the year ahead. I'm following the prompts found here.