Musing on cards and the sending thereof

mabfan and I have become regular birthday card senders. So the idea of buying and sending cards has become kind of second-nature for me. And non-birthday cards, while not sent as often, are also somewhat common for us (anniversary, Mother's Day, Father's Day, etc. cards). But yesterday, I prepared two non-birthday cards that are sort of peculiar, and I'm still turning them over in my head.

First, I sent a condolence card to my former boss, whose wife passed away a couple of weeks ago. mabfan found the obituary in one of the local Brookline papers, and immediately I knew I wanted to send a card. Which is sort of surprising, as while my former boss and I parted on cordial terms, we had never had a smooth working relationship. So the instinct that said I had to send a card sort of surprised me.

The second odd card that I sent was a congratulations card for the birth of a baby to a woman I have never met. Julie Kramer had a baby boy last week, and since I have been a regular listener to 'FNX since the mid-90s, I wanted to let Julie know that her listeners wish her well and congratulations. (She's on leave until mid-July but will be returning to the air thereafter.)

I don't regret sending either card. But the drive to send them is what is staying with me -- the question of why I felt it important to send them.