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Ramblin' Roses and Flyin' Bricks
These "Thank-U-Grams" are designed to develop the faculty of appreciation and can be procured from the Kimball Foundation, St. Louis, Mo. They'll send you a 10-day supply free. You may include postage, but it isn't required. You do, however, have to agree to send two a day, which shouldn't be difficult. Send them to a saleslady, your minister, the paper boy, the policeman on the corner, your family doctor, your son's teacher, a TV performer - anyone who has brought good into your life that day. Maybe you can send one to a friend for just being a friend. If you carry out this program for just 10 days the Kimball Foundation says something wonderful will happen to you I'll bet it will, too. Easy to remember Looking back, for just the past few days I can remember, without straining, many nice things people have done for me. I'm sure I said the automatic "Thank you" at the time, but a little note to them from me would have made them realize it wasn't simply something my parents threatened to frail the daylights out of me for not saying when I was very young. To be grateful is fine, but to show your gratitude is even finer. Many times I have sought and been given the advice of wise men and women for which I was most grateful, but it never occurred to me that a "Thank-U-Gram" would be a nice way to let them know how much their counsel helped me. Many times in conversations, a friend has helped to cheer me up and lifted a veil of despondency from around me. A little note, telling him how much it meant, would have made us both feel better. Many times I have thought it would be a swell idea for all of us to keep a sort of ledger where we could jot down, as a "debit," the many nice things our friends do for us. Then, at some future date, maybe we could do something nice for them and issue a "credit." If the credit side got larger than the debit side we could figure they were due a little "interest" and keep on paying 'em back. The Peaches Plan My mother, I think, had an idea kind of like, the Kimball Institute plan, except that she didn't write notes. When people did something nice for her, she sent 'em a jar of put-up peaches. We didn't have anything else to send, except sweet potatoes and everybody had plenty of them. We had a big peach orchard and some bumper crops, so we sold all the fresh peaches we could get rid of and bought fruit jars with the money. The shelves were full, the shed room was full, the smokehouse was full and hundreds of jars were stacked in corners and under tables. For several months they tasted mighty good, but you can get powerful tired of put-up peaches and I always felt like we got the best end of the deal when we swapped a jar of peaches for even a potted geranium. Back then the young courting people did a lot of late-at-night serenading. After they got through singing in front of our house, Mama would send out several jars of peaches. Looking back now, I'm not sure whether she was kind of thanking 'em for the music or paying 'em to quit. Anyway, we were mighty glad to get rid of the peaches. The singers too. Like I say, we should all use the "Thank-U-Grams" often. During the holidays a lady invited me in for coffee and well-saturated fruitcake. I should have sent her a little note saying, "Thanks for the coffee and cake. I'm still a little groggy."
Seriously, though, to the nice lady in Mobile: Please consider this a Thank U-Gram for your Thank-U-Gram.
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