Posts Tagged: "birthday cards"

A Stash of Beautiful Greeting Cards

Queen Darlene - December 31, 2015 - $20 or Less, Birthday, Christmas, Condolence, Get Well, Mother's Day

When my parents-in-law moved into an independent retirement community, it was bittersweet. They had lived in their home for more than 50 years, but now they no longer had to worry about maintaining it.

With neither of them able to drive, their “kids” frequently would take them to run errands but sometimes things came up, and we just couldn’t.

Seniors living in retirement communities don’t often relish needing to depend on others so it’s nice to think of ways to keep some things status quo to give them the sense of still being independent.

One of the things I discovered my mother-in-law wanted were greeting cards for birthdays and anniversaries or get-well cards for her new friends.

Grammy loved giving beautiful cards as she felt they were a gift in itself. I began collecting fancy, unusual, and 3D cards to give her every few months.

She soon had her own personal stash of greeting cards for all occasions!

Birthday Card Blitz | 80 Cards for 80 Years

Queen Darlene - September 4, 2014 - Anniversary, Birthday

httpvh://youtu.be/1d8n7zvNISs

My mother was turning 80 years old. After 80 birthdays, how could we make this a unique birthday for her?

I came up with the idea of family and friends sending her birthday cards. That’s nothing new, but for that thoughtful twist the goal was for her to receive 80 cards by her 80th birthday! My brother and I called family and friends to put the birthday card blitz in action.

If you have been following my blog, you know my mother was deaf and I’m all about giving her gifts that are visual experiences. Like the year I popped out of a box.

On another birthday, I treated her and several of her deaf friends to a local diner that cooked fried chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans just like her mother, my Grandma, used to cook. Afterwards, I took them all to the Science Museum Oklahoma for fun hands-on-experiences. Mom and her friends loved her birthday party!

Mom knew my boss and several of my co-workers so I purchased birthday cards ready with stamps so all they had to do was to address the envelope, sign the card, and mail it. I asked my co-workers, who my mother didn’t know, to wish Mom a Happy 80th Birthday anyway. So that there was a connection, I requested they write in the card they worked with me and something nice about me – anything that would thrill a mother to read about her daughter.