The Perfect Thank You Note

For John Kralik 2007 was a tough year as his marriage and business were both failing, so as a New Year’s resolution he decided to be thankful for the good things and people in his life. He spent the year writing a thank you note each day to family, friends, employees, even the manager of his apartment. The notes make up a book I read recently, A Simple Act of Gratitude: How Learning to Say Thank You Changed My Life. “Things we write in cyberspace are so easily deleted and forgotten ... buried by the next 30 e-mails we receive," Kralik says. "In this day and age, a handwritten note is something that people really feel is special."

My Mother is the Queen of the thank you's, if we got a gift the note had to be written before you spent it or played with it! So my children do not bother to argue about writing their thank you notes or wearing sunscreen. Ok, the later was not around when I was kid! I enjoy writing a thank you for gifts and acts of kindness but one a day for a whole year did seem to be a huge undertaking. As I thought over this project for my own New Year’s resolution, it seemed I did have much to be thankful as I was able to find at least 30 things in November (one for each day)! What the heck, I started January 1st and am keeping a log of each card, the recipient and reason I am thankful. Should be fun to look back over in the years to come… I guess I will need to order some more stationary, wish me luck!

Thank you!

The Band Parent!

 Cameron's last FTAB halftime drill!

The 2011 Meineke Car Care Bowl halftime began with  Col. Jay Brewer announcing   "now forming at the south end zone, the nationally famous Fightin' Texas Aggie Band!" The moment had arrived much sooner than I ever thought possible, my son would soon step off into his last Aggie Band halftime drill. Where did the time go, wasn't he just a Fish where everyday was HELL and thoughts of being a senior wearing the boots and ring were a distant dream. I cried tears of joy and happiness watching the drill from high in the stadium. Even from this distance I could  find my kid among the 350 plus khaki clad mob marching with military perfection. As the band left the field in the famous block "T", my time as a band mom was coming to an end.

Senior Night for Amanda!

Over the last eleven years I have found missing instruments, delivered forgotten uniform parts and brought more fundraising stuff than I can remember. Most importantly, I was given the gift of friendship with other band parents while enjoying the fruits of our children's labor at contests and concerts. While my job did not afford me the flexibility to be an official chaperon and ride the band buses, I was often in awe of the parents who did. This wonderful group of folks took care of problems we never knew about and provided a fun & safe time on trips. My kids had their favorites like the Webb's, Jackson's, Whitehead's and Mrs. Melinder, and 30 something years ago so did I.

WHS band Class of '80 in Ebenweiler, Germany, June 1979

 The band parents of my days at Westlake HS were a special group. During our band years we performed concerts in Japan, throughout Europe, and the United States. Trips such as these took  parents willing to trust the students! These unsung heroes took care of us as their own and got us out of a few unique problems such as rain soaked uniforms in downtown Tokyo before a concert! A long overdue thank you to the Niven's, Knepley's, Mrs. Joyce "Flash" Petersen and Mrs. Montgomery, you were excellent role models for this band parent!