Two Words

I wrote an e-mail yesterday that I had been hoping not to have to write, but it has been almost a month since the plant sale and I have yet to hear any word of acknowledgement or appreciation from the board of our local community organization for the work I did chairing the plant sale—the plant sale that raised $6000 for the organization. (The plant sale is that organization’s biggest fundraiser.) The AI summary of the June board meeting noted that the board voted to donate money to the local elementary school’s horticulture program in thanks for the plants that they always donate to our sale—an action which I support wholeheartedly—but there was no mention of thanking the person who started plants and raised them in her greenhouse or who coordinated all the moving parts before, during, and after the sale. I made sure that my thank-you notes to the volunteers who helped with the plant sale were in the mail within two weeks of the event. Susan, who is on the board, thanked me, but Susan thanks me for everything. ☺️

So I e-mailed the president of the board and noted that I had not yet heard from the board regarding the plant sale. I also noted that failing to thank people is how organizations lose volunteers. I received a prompt and thoughtful response from him in which he personally acknowledged my efforts and said he would bring the matter up with the board.

No one likes to be taken for granted. Our fire chief—the volunteer fire chief of an all-volunteer fire department—does a fantastic job of remembering to say thank-you to everyone who helps to keep our fire district humming along. I am one of the people who will take food to responders on a structure fire or car accident and invariably, within a day or two of the incident, I will get an e-mail from him thanking me for doing so. He knows that it is important for people to be seen.

And the thank-yous don’t require grand gestures. The husband is delighted when people thank him by bringing him food. Even just saying two words—”thank you”—goes a long way toward making people feel appreciated.

It makes me wonder why thanking people is such a huge burden. Is everyone just too busy? That shouldn’t be an excuse. I sometimes think of the comment that my church pianist mentor made to me one time. Catherine and I were talking about being church pianists and she said, “It’s hard work to make this look so easy.” Perhaps people assume that because we make it look easy, it must have been easy and thus not worth acknowledging.

I am not perfect. I am sure I have missed acknowledging people when I should have, but I do make an effort to say “thank you” when I can. If our fire chief can do it, so can I.

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I made half a top yesterday. We may get thunderstorms on Saturday so I’ll try to finish it then. I may also make a couple pairs of Free Range Slacks before starting the raincoat. I have those two lengths of Kona Crush that would work nicely for that pattern. It is wonderful to be able to go to my closet to get dressed and be able to pull out clothing I’ve made and love to wear. Everything coordinates. Everything fits. It’s not falling apart in the wash. The colors are flattering and ones I love to wear. I love it.