DEAR ABBY: My husband and I are both in our 80s. I recently ran across a column of yours that I have saved these many years. I thought you might like to reprint it. Perhaps some grandchildren or their young parents might be helped by it. –- GRANDMA OF SIX
DEAR GRANDMA: The topic of that letter recurs regularly, and you're right –- the grandchildren and young parents who "forgot" this courtesy might be helped by reading it again. Read on:
DEAR ABBY: On my son's 16th birthday, he received a birthday card from his grandparents on his father's side. (His father and I are divorced.) "Grandma Jones" added the following handwritten message on the card: "Sorry, Billy, no money this time because we received no thank-you for the money we sent with our card last year. Lots of love, Grandma and Grandpa Jones."
Abby, although these grandparents are retired and living on a fixed income, they are far from poor. It wouldn't have hurt them to have enclosed a $10 bill. It would have made the difference between my son feeling good or bad on his birthday.
I wrote to my ex-mother-in-law and told her what I thought about her birthday message to Billy. I haven't heard from her since, and I don't expect to.
What do you (and your readers) think about the message a grandmother sent to her grandson on his 16th birthday? –- BURNED UP IN BUTTE
DEAR BURNED: I think Grandma may have given Billy a birthday gift that was far more valuable than a $10 bill.