Sincerely Yours

Every year on my birthday up until I was 12 years old, I would get a very special birthday card in the mail from my Granny Waddle. Granny's last name was Waddle, it had nothing to do with the way she walked. Though to be honest, Granny was a large woman and she did waddle a bit when she walked. But I digress, back to my birthday cards. Those cards were special to me for two reasons ... they were from Granny, and they always had 100 shiny new pennies taped carefully to the inside of the card. Now I know that in today's world, 100 pennies would mean very little to many kids, but back then, those 100 pennies meant so much more. Those 100 pennies could buy 100 pieces of Double Bubble pink bubble gum (the square pieces with the little comic inside) or three boxes of Cracker Jacks (with a nifty prize inside) or 50 Pixy Stix (the straws with the colored sugar inside) or my all-time favorite ... 100 Atomic Fireballs ... yummmm. I'm sure there were lots of other things that my 100 pennies could have purchased, but Daddy always took me to the Red Bank Drugstore after I got my birthday card from Granny where I would choose my candy from the bins that rested inside a large wooden cabinet with the gleaming glass front. Now that I think about it, the candy really had very little to do with what made those outings so much fun ... what made them fun was the anticipation of getting the cards in the mail from Granny and holding Daddy's hand as we walked into the store.

I think the older I get, the more sentimental I become. I wish I had kept some of those cards from Granny, if for no other reason than I would have liked to have shown them to my children and grandchildren. Granny had a very unique style in her handwriting, kind of swirly and fancy. I remember wishing that I could write "pretty" like Granny, and when she would come to visit us from Kentucky, I would ask her to teach me to write the way she did. Granny would always laugh and say, "Child, everybody's got their own way of writin' ... I got my way and you got yours." Not only did Granny have her own special penmanship, she also had her own way of signing the birthday cards she sent to me. Each card always had the same closing, "Love you forever, Granny." Not just "Love you, Granny," or even "Love, Granny" ... nope ... every single one of Granny's birthday cards to me ended with the words "Love you forever, Granny."

I've been thinking a lot over the last couple of days about beginnings and endings, greetings and closings. I've thought about the many different methods I've used to close letters or cards I've sent over the years. I've used "Kind regards" or "Warmly" or "Much love" or "Hugs to you" or "Fondly" or "Cheers" or even "Until then." But, as I'm sure is true for many of you as well, the closing I've used most often is "Sincerely yours." I think I use those words most often because they are the ones my teacher Mrs. Gault taught me to use. I can't remember the name of the class Mrs. Gault taught, but I do remember that she taught us to stand every time we heard the Hallelujah Chorus, how to properly place a napkin in our laps at a fancy dinner and which silverware to use, to hold a teacup with our pinky finger extended, to always hold the door for the elderly, the correct way to give a firm handshake and to always end a letter, note or card with the words "Sincerely yours."

Those two words are pounding in my head ... sincerely yours ... sincerely yours ... sincerely yours. And each time they course through my mind, an overwhelming question accompanies them ... am I? Am I sincere? Am I sincere in the words I speak? In the words I write? Am I sincere not only in word but in deed as well? And so much, much, much more ... am I sincere deep within where it really matters? Am I sincere of heart? Am I?

Sincerely yours ... sincerely yours ... sincerely yours. Am I? Are you?