“Is it so wrong to be an idealist, Tom?” Cora asked as she followed him down the hall to their bedroom.

            “Your sister was just inferring that a realist gets what he or she wants in this world. I wouldn’t take her comment as an insult.”

            “So you think the more commercialism and gadgets we buy into, the happier we are? Because that’s reality, Tom. And I think all we get when we play into realism is less time to be happy.”

“You’re defensive.” He put his arms around her. “I’m not taking her side. I just have no idea where you’re going with this.” 

“I just miss the simple times with you. I miss how you would mail me cards from college, and make smiley faces and write in balloon captions things like, “I miss you, Bunny”.  Why don’t we do that for each other anymore?”

“Because we’re busy now Cora. We work a combined 90-100 hours a week so we’re lucky if we can scrounge a dinner together when I’m not on the road, let alone have time to shower each other with handmade cards.” 

“But, those are the little things that make us each feel special; taking the time to let the other know he or she is important enough to be thought of before life’s burdens. I’m sad that we’ve allowed ourselves to place more value on utility than on our emotions. Being appreciated, feeling special, using our imagination, these are primal necessities to happiness. I didn’t realize how much our lives lacked of it until I read Rose’s card. I want that in my life Tom, and I want to live in a society where that’s valued and practiced. If that’s being naive then, I’m guilty.”

“You are an idealist Cora, but I’m happy you are. I mean that as a compliment. If everyone were as passionate as you are, I think our world would be richer for it. Maybe discovering this card is segueing your life, pointing it in a different direction, challenging you to choose which side of the fork in the road you want to take, creating a path for you to lead others down.”

   

 

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And from Tom’s words that day, Cora’s heart soared as purpose and destiny came together, forming ideas that pooled into, what she planned to tell Margo, a strategy for enriching lives. As the ideas spiraled from her mind, she jotted them down on Post-It® notes. And soon her kitchen table turned into a big yellow note with blue scribbles, and in those scribbles was the blossoming of an optimistic approach to experiencing joyful simplicity.   

 

From the bay window, Cora could see Margo balancing on the top rung of the ladder as she placed a book back in the literature section of her bookstore. The door was locked. Cora knocked on the window and when Margo noticed her, she smiled and eased down the ladder to open the door for her. Margo’s hair was long and sleek and was streaked with new bronze highlights. On the days she cared, Margo was a stunning woman with accentuated features. Today, her face glowed and her eyes, brilliantly blue, were cheerful and welcoming.

            “Come on in.” Margo waved Cora into her book haven. “What brings you by?”

            “Just wanted to chat,” Cora said as her heels sunk into the burgundy carpet.

            “You need a haircut.” Margo fingered her hair with a look of disgust.

            “I just got one last week, Margo.”

            “Maybe you just need some spray, then. It looks frizzy.”

            Cora smoothed her hair with a sweep of her hands and pushed the coarse wiry mop over her shoulders. Conversation with Margo could never be without criticism. “I brought you some tea.” Cora handed her a cup.

            Margo accepted it and motioned for her to follow her into the back room. The storage area was where they retreated to on their visits. They sat in their respective chairs.

            “Margo, I have a proposal for you.” 

            “I’m listening.”

            “I know you’re going to shoot down the idea before I can get it all out so just hear me out first before saying anything.”       

            Margo raised her eyebrows as if insulted Cora would accuse her of being impolite. 

            “Well? It’s not like you are the martyr of patience, Margo.”

            “I think I exceed the average supportive person. But, I apologize if I gave you any other idea.”

            Cora hated when Margo sheltered the obvious with an apology. “Can I go on?”

            “Please.”

            “Mrs. Cavanaugh’s card started me thinking. I realized after reading it that I don’t put as much thought as I could into the emotions of the people in my life. And I don’t think that people like me necessarily choose to ignore the feelings of others; I think we simply forget about sentiments because we’re not exposed to them. If we had an avenue, a plan, a direction, perhaps we would be more apt to take that half an hour from our day to create that card for someone as a way to make them smile, laugh, feel loved or just to say, hey I think you’re special.”

            “Ok, I think I know where this is heading,” Margo said.

            Cora folded her arms across her chest and challenged Margo’s interruption with an intent look. Margo retracted with a soft smile. Cora had wrestled all morning with how she would get Margo to accept her idea. She refused to beg. She would simply be straightforward.

            “I want to create a kit of greeting cards and promote them as “Get Personal Cards”. Each kit would come with templates, supplies and ideas for personalization.”

            “So you’ve gone from financial analyst to greeting card designer as a result of reading Rose’s card? How are you going to make this work, Cora? Where are you going to get your ideas and, more importantly, the time?”

            “Well, I started thinking. I’m not a designer, so there’s no way I can create cards that people will buy. And if I were to take on the arduous talk of designing the cards, then others wouldn’t benefit from the key element of the “Get Personal Cards” which is that they are a forum for sharing ideas. So, to take care of this issue, I think I came up with a pretty brilliant plan.”

            Margo looked interested.

            “I thought, why not have a submission process, where people submit their layout ideas and inspirations behind why they are sharing them with the public? What do you think?” Cora asked.

            Margo sipped her tea and tapped the corner of her mouth with a napkin. Then, she took a second exaggerated sip.

            Cora drummed her fingers on the vinyl card table.

            Margo eyed her with concern. “I don’t know what you mean by inspirations behind why they are sharing them. What does that mean exactly?”

            “Because I knew you would question me on that, I brought you a sample.” Cora pulled a paper out of her binder notebook and handed it to Margo. “This is what I plan to put on the backside of the kit package. It is my inspiration for sharing the line of cards with them. Sharing the experience I had when I read Rose’s greeting card is an example of the type of inspirational submission “Get Personal Cards” is looking for. I want them to answer the question: Why do you find greeting cards inspiring?”

 

Receiving a hand-made greeting card is like receiving a hug on a lonely day or sitting by a cozy fire curled up with a good book when the snow piles outside the door. Everyone needs such comfort.

 

Rose and Robert Cavanaugh unknowingly became my inspiration in creating the ‘Get Personal’ greeting card line. I fell in love with creativity all over again when I found a hand-made greeting card from Robert to Rose tucked in the drawer of a dresser I bought at a quaint antique shop. Love transcended from its textured paper to my heart and renewed in me a spirit of romanticism that I suspect was patiently waiting to surface.

         

          Thank you Robert and Rose!

 

            “And this is the tag line I will put on the front of each kit,” Cora said as she slipped Margo another paper. 

 

            “Get Personal Cards” are more than just cards, they are a collection of shared inspirations that will touch your heart and entertain your creative desires.   

           

            “So I’m assuming you want to sell them in my bookstore, right?” Margo asked.

            “To start out, yes. Don’t you think they’d do well?” Cora asked.

            “At first I thought you were going to ask me to start making greeting cards with you, but just providing you with a place to introduce your “Get Personal Cards” to the world works much better for me,” Margo said.

            “Really?” Cora asked, trying to keep her voice from rising too high with excitement.

            “Just give me the specifics, like space required, signage, and how much I will make off each one sold.”

            When Margo was agreeable, she was remarkably agreeable. Her personality was on or off. That day, it was right on.      

  

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            Shortly after Cora hung the signage for the “Get Personal Cards” submission process, card layouts and essays filled her post office box. 

            Cora received so many submissions, she organized a reading party. Margo, Lucy, Tom and herself sat on the beanbag chairs in the children’s section of Margo’s bookstore sifting through the pile of envelopes that Cora had dumped onto the floor in front of them. Together they would choose the top submissions for the debut kit.

           The submissions for the first boxed set of Get Personal Cards were decided upon. Each kit would contain a color picture of what each of the finished cards should look like, as well as cardstock, lay-out instructions, a material list, and the personal essays that accompanied each card.  In addition, Get Personal Cards contact information would be provided to encourage more submissions.

Below, find the first of the ten debut cards.
Look for the rest of the cards, in each A Personal Touch issue.

 

Dear Cora,

 

     Everything is given a value in life, isn’t it? We put a value on friendships, marriage, gifts, celebrations, and even greeting cards. Most people place a higher value on things that give them the most pleasure: a relaxing vacation versus a hectic trip to a crowded place, a well-thought out gift versus a meaningless one. Usually the lower valued items are easily forgotten.

     Time for me to confess -- I’m guilty of receiving cards in the mail and chucking them after I’ve read them. I do this not because I am ungrateful, but moreso to save room for the items which I value more, like scribbled crayon notes from my nephew made especially for me. They get prime room in my drawers because I can see how badly Timmy wants to make me happy.

     More confessions -- When I make a card, I want to know it’s not going to be forgotten or chucked in the trash can upon opening. So, I make cards that would make a person feel guilty for discarding. How can a person honestly feel OK with throwing a home-made card in the trash? Especially one as pretty as this birthday card I submitted. (Certainly, I’m only joking!) Of course they’d feel guilty to throw it out, though. Right?

     I love the people in my life and I want them to be able to reflect back on that from time to time. I want to give them something that’ll make it impossible for them to forget my love. I want to give them something worth saving.

 

Sincerely,

A person with, what I assure you are, unselfish intentions

 

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To be continued...

 

 

Tune in next issue for the continuing tale of The Get Personal Campaign. Be prepared to be inspired! Get ready for the next featured free card project, too!