A Brief Sunday Post

Here on a rainy German Unity Day, I am just enjoying a quiet Sunday afternoon thinking about my folks. 

My mother was a huge fan of writing little post-it notes to me, sometimes with nothing more than a smiley face.  Wherever I happened to be, I would generally receive newspaper clippings from her from time to time.  Sometimes it was an article about quitting smoking, other times it was just something that she had found interesting and wanted to share.  All of our family was fond of the comic strips in the newspaper each day (and in color on Sundays), and if my mother happened to come across a particularly funny comic, she usually would cut it out and send it to me, too. 

I miss those little things, those little "just thinking about you" moments that my mother sent to me through her entire life.  

Somewhat unexpectedly, my father started doing similar things after my mother passed away.  I say unexpected, because I am not entirely sure that he knew mom was sending me such little notes.  I am not sure what prompted him to start the habit, but it it quite a pleasant thing.   There has never been any question that my father does not think of me, but the little surprises that have been popping up in the past few years have been particularly welcome. 

Sometimes there would be only a newspaper clipping of a comic, other times there might be a short note with encouraging words.  And of course, Birthday cards are still arriving each April. 

A couple of years ago, my father did cancel the hard copy subscription to the newspaper, making the decision to go digital.  This was a big step for him, as he has spent his entire lifetime enjoying reading the paper, getting ink stains on his fingers, sometimes having to let the paper dry out in the event that the carrier forgot to put it in a plastic bag on a rainy morning, etc. 

Reading articles on a computer monitor (or phone, tablet, whatever) is just not quite the same.  

I wondered if this would be a difficult transition for my dad, but truth be told, he kind of took it all in stride.  

And I am particularly thankful that he has gotten his head around the technology side of things, because now, instead of sending me a clipping of a comic strip, he just sends me a little pdf attachment in an email.  

Twice this past week I received a quick funny from Dad, an email with a Dilbert comic (one of his favorite strips) attached, and a simple one line statement saying, "I thought of you when I saw this."  

As an additional bonus, I received an electronic animated greeting card from him on Friday, just a "wishing you a good start to autumn," as he knows this is my favorite season.  

And indeed, it is a good start to autumn. 

see you out there

Bryan