Penny For Your Thoughts A Nickel For Your Kiss
78
There was a time when sending a letter via Postal Service was an everyday occurrence and one would anticipate when they received a letter or postcard in the mail with cute little words written inside or a picture identifying where the person was with ," We are having a great time here in the Carolinas, wish you were here." written and lovingly signed by someone special on the back. Recently my mother moved in with us and along with her came a trunk which she had been lugging around for years. We had always known about the trunk but did not know what treasure's were held inside she had always told all of us that it was not our business and those were her belongings. As I peeked quietly through the bedroom door not wanting to disturb her I had noticed a stack of cards with envelopes neatly tied with a big red bow lying next to her on the floor. quietly I listened to her humming these words, " A penny for your thoughts, a nickel for your kiss, a dime if you tell me that you love me. " I felt like a little girl listening to her humming, mom used to always hum that song when we were young. Carefully she unwrapped the stack of keepsakes and peered into them one by one. I felt my heart racing knowing those cards were something special that she had kept for all of those years. Thinking to myself I wondered what happened to the good old days when a letter or a card was something important that we tucked away to reflect on the past? We are all so busy with the hustle and bustle that an e-mail is much quicker and saves time and energy thus eliminating the thoughtfulness we place behind a handwritten letter or card. Sitting down on the floor , peering through the cracked open space being careful not to cast any type of shadow I had seen her lines around her eyes become deepened and her eyes glistened this time she started to sing the words to the song, " A penny for your thoughts, a nickel for your kiss, a dime if you tell me that you love me. " I knew then that those letters and cards were something important, something special that nobody could ever take from her. It did not matter if she sold everything and ended up with a handful of things it was the letters and cards that traveled with her through the years. Smiling to myself I got up from the floor and gently knocked, "mom are you o.k. in there?", I asked. "Julianna is that you?", she replied. "Yes it is me, may I come in?" I again asked. "Yes do come in, she said calmly. Opening the door and walking in I had noticed that the trunk holding all of her treasures was full of trinkets. A hand print that I made when I was a child, a string of garland made out of faded green paper from years gone by, a card from my sister made out of paper and macaroni. I knew then that these were mom's treasures they were things that were from the heart that nobody could take away. The cards that were so beautifully tied in a ribbon were cards and letters written or made by all of us and every last love letter and card that our father gave to her. As I sat down next to her on the bed I realized what was more important then all of the materialistic things money could buy was the importance of a letter or card. The Internet is so sterile and sometimes buying a postage stamp or making a card is priceless and will always bring fond memories for years to come, so the next time you choose to send a Hallmark via Internet take the time to spend a few bucks that card or letter will certainly last a lifetime. "Penny for your thoughts, A nickel for your kiss, a dime if you tell me that you love me. "
copyright © 2009
Penny For Your Thoughts
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you are a great writer that is so true
I*n*v*i*c*t*u*s: Thanks so much and my mom maybe realized the important of a letter.
Brenda: Thank you bunches. :)
' A nickel for ....'. So beautifully said. I still remember making cards using crayons and water colors for my aunt (mother's sis) when I was in school. She preserved those cards for almost thirty years and I didn't even know that. Recently she told me that as she had to relocate, she had no choice but to destroy those cards after so many years. It was so touching. I wonder if she would have done the same thing with e-mails sent thru internet. Thats the difference. Thumbs up Evans.
Wonderful story....made me smile! :)
Excellent Thanks for another great hub!
anja: Since my mother has moved in I have truly realized the importance of the little things. That is sad to hear that she destroyed the cards but it is certainly nice that she shared her story and let others know how important they were to her. :)
Tom: I am so glad that it made you smile I love my mom bunches. :)
Hmr: You are so welcome and I am glad that you to enjoyed the hub. :)
Beautifully written! You are one talented writer. Thanks for sharing. Thumbs up!
OMG!!!! this was wonderful...and it made me think fo the letters I have tyed up in a pink ribbon from the father of my children...May get them out and write a story...Thanks you are such a dear Lady...:O) Hugs
thelesleyshow: Thank you for the warm comment. :)
G-Ma: They will one day and how wonderful yours is in pink ribbon! :) ((Big Hugs)) :)
I kind of miss the days of giving and receiving letters via snail-mail. I guess I'm old-fashion in that sense! I remember when my my oldest brother and sister would receive love letters from their girlfriend and boyfriend (respectively) and my other brother and sister would get nosy and beg to read them. I remember those letters smelling like a Macy's perfume department as the letters reeked of cologne and perfume (again, respectively). Oh, those were the days!
I really liked this tribute and enjoyed reading about your mother's keepsakes...It's kind of tough to hold in your hands an e-mail message isn't it?
Very creative and nice. Keep it up.
this is a great story and I have to say, my wife and I are going on our 20th wedding anniversary and we still leave paper notes around for each other:)
dohn: I miss those days to I still send cards but a majority of the time I send an e-card but I do think that this holday season I am sending paper cards to everyone.
Philipo: Thank you.:)
mtsi1098: That is so adorable and wonderfully sweet those cards are going to last a lifetime that is so kind and by the way I don't know when it is coming but Happy 20th Anniversary! :)
My thoughts nobody will ever know, the kiss is my pleasure and my love is forever. Nice hub, have a great weekend my friend x
Great story AE. really is. Memories is all it is and wonderful ones too. Hold onto them and her with all your might dear. Mine is gone and all I have are those memories. I remember that lil song too, penny for your thought...
I make my won cards with my own art. Much better than the commercial ones they are. thanks dear, peace, CC
This wonderful hub made me think of a recent event in my house. My daughter who is ten left me a I Love You "card" where I would find it. She took a piece of printer paper and drew I Love You in bubble letters, then folded it up and placed it where I would find it. That was very sweet of her and I appreciated the thoughtfulness of it. Thank you for this wonderful reminder. Wes
badco: Thank you so much and you as well have a lovely weekend! :)
ralwus: Aaah that is sweet and making cards is so much more special I do have to agree. I certainly will hold onto my memories. :)
wesleycox: That is a wonderful memory and one that you and your daughter will cherish forever and ever. :)
The Art of the Handwritten Note. I believe it to be irreplaceable in what it conveys. I write notes to people by hand but starting today I am going to do it more often.
A fine story, wonderfully written.
James A: Now that is a great start and thank you for the comment I am glad that you are now going to take it upon yourself to do it more often.:)
When I saw the title, I instantly thought of the music. But when I read the hub, I found more than just the music, I found the heart =). Great hub AEvans.
emievil: Thank you and you did find the heart Happy Labor Day ! :)
Brilliant Hub. I so miss the days where everything was handwritten and from the bottom of heart. Internet has reduced the physical distance but certainly it does not have the charm of a handwritten thing. Beautifully expressed. Keep up the good work.
I have only one friend who stubbornly refuses to get computer savvy and I eagerly look forward to his annual missive...apart from a newsy and long letter he also adds newspaper clippings he think I might enjoy reading...and a handmade Christmas card. :)
AE I have to agree that In ahardwired world that has most of us disconnected from one another , there Is no substitute for the human touch on anything .I really liked this little hub partly because I am a romantic at heart ! . Tell your Mom I said Hi !
jayb23: I miss those days to so I am certainly going to do things differently after seeing my mother and her joy.:)
Feline: That is the sweetest thing I have heard. :)
tony0724: I am a romantic to and I will tell mom hello!! In fact it is 8:10am and she is standing right behind me, she also says hello too. :)
Wow. This is a beautiful story. I love old letters too.
Raven King: Thank you and they are great memoirs and heaven sent.:)
Absolutely loved this hub! I think its so sweet that your mom kept everything over the years. Everything is so impersonal with emails and things. Now at days you dont even get love letters, you get love texts. "Say what you feel in 160 characters or less"...sad
spiritedstar25: Thank you and yes my mom did keep them it actually choked me up when I was being observant. :)
One of the best hubs I've ever read, keep up the great work AEvans!
EWeatlhguide: Thank you! :)
happy tears .. that what I got from reading this. . just beautiful . .
You are one really good writer. Thanks for this hub, and good luck with the book, you'll succeed, I know it.
WaveGirl: I am glad that you truly enjoyed it! :)
Paradise7: Thank you for the positive comments. :)
A great hub. Thanks.
Robert Elias Ballard
Robert: Thank you. :)
I have to say I absolutely enjoyed reading this! How many people actually take the time to write a letter, or even, god-forbid, MAKE a card?
My dearest friend did this once. I thought she was a nut when she gave it to me. She used construction paper, card stock, ribons, hand made bows and wrote every word herself. I enjoyed it, although I couldn't imagine how she found the time to do it because she was always running here and there.
Now, I year after her passing I have looked at this card numerous times. She made it just for me because there wasn't a card on any shelf that said how she felt about me.
Thank you for this reminder. To this day I have my kids put their special birthday cards and notes in their dresser drawers so they can look back and remember how special people think they are, but it only takes one card for me.
Peace to you!
Hey you,
An article that many of us understand all to well, though you did scare me. Talking about a monetary figure for ............anything, made me think for a moment what this was going to be about.
So wonderfully written, you are truly gifted. Thank you!
Calling Crow: That is the most adorable thing I have heard and when I listened to my mom I realized the importance of a card.
Harvey: I am glad that you sincerely enjoyed the read. :)
Ladybird33: Thank you! :)
How wonderful it is to have your mother with you. My mother spent the last two years of her life with us in our home. Her wonderful memories will live on. God Bless and Take care.
star439: I am so glad that you have wonderful memories, I love my mom and although we may on occassion have indifferences I am glad she is with us. :)
There is something intensely personal about handwriting. Mine happens to be so illegible as to be a scandal. But that's beside the point.
What a beautiful hub. I cant believe it has been 3 months since your last comment.
I am very proud to include this hub on my blog and I hope eventually the blog produces enough traffic to send you a ton more traffic because people should read this and remember that not so long ago the internet didnt even exist.
Cheers
Dale
Dale: I am so glad you appreciated it! Mom now is battling stage 4 cancer and it is truly a tribute to her, a heartfelt story about a woman who I adore, admire and am so glad she is my mother. :)
Tears are rolling down my face. What an awesome story, so well written. I was not as fortunate to have had a mom like yours. But I am very proud that I have been a good mom. And like your mom, I still cherish every card and letter that both of my daughters have ever written. To this day they live in a box underneath my bed. Thanks so much for sharing this heart warming story.
Sage Williams: You sound like you are a great mom and although some mom's could be complicated I can bet that somewhere in your heart there is truly a place for yours. I thank you for reading this story when I look at my mom I do cherish every moment with her good or bad I am so proud to call her mom. :)
AEvans-
This story fairly triggered the tears with me-it's a lovely story and so evocative-and it brings back happy/sad memories.Thank you.
itakins: I am glad that it brings back the good times and sometimes it is good to bring back the sad times ithelpsus relieve some of the tension that we keep pent up inside of us. :)
Very nice!
Jacob Darkley: Thank you! :)
you're brilliant!
brotheryochanan: Thank you and I am certainly happy that you enjoyed it. :)
i did. You're brilliant and pretty cute in black and white :0)
brotheryochanan: I am glad that you enjoyed and thank you for the compliment. :)
Okay, with tears in my eyes I listen to the song. I've never heard it before. I was talking to a friend about mail. Postal workers are going to lose their jobs as offices close, or go on short weeks. What do they deliver any time but holidays? Bills and ads, and some of us are going with paperless billing. We were in an 18 year old Hallmark that was going out of business.
Yes, we have lost so much. Thank you for voicing that.
Faybe Bay: That is so sad if people would only understand that going paperless is not the same as getting something in the mail. As my mother battles her cancers I will not ever forget this moment. Thank you for also sharing your thoughts.:)
Beautiful story. Yes, my mother has quite of few of these paper memories and has allowed me to look through them. But I'm sure there are some that she keeps just for herself.
Bruce Pena: I can bet there are and one day when you are able to read them you will probably have a flood of tears, she is sharing something so important that only certain eyes can see. :)
Yeah, I miss the more stationary life, pen pal girlfriends from summer romances, that sent me running to that mailbox hoping for something enveloped in pink and perfume. Always sealed with a kiss, sometimes that flap was so hard to disturb, cause kisses were special. Now we have to seal it with a Rss, or
inkjet it across a vast web, and a printed out e-mail just smells like Mr. Hewlett's Packard. Over hill over Dell now, and there aint mothing as cold as text....not handwritten, but punched out on tiny buttons, abbreviated down to a whole new language, and then erased to save space. Great hub...MFB III
MFB III: It is certainly sad , I still however enjoy using pen and paper to jot down my thoughts and inspirations only leaving the computer as a back up plan. I thank you for a warm and delightful comment that expresses the truth. :)
Well said Agent #99 and without the annoying shoe phone. Just be sure to eat any notes you write after reading. Remember reader's digest and writers cramp...lol~~~MFB III
MFB III: I must add a little bit of salt to the paper it is rather bland when eaten dry. lololo I have placed my shoe phone in my Dooney so it is concealed. lololol :D
A E . I know I have been here before but I just stumbled back on it and had to tell you again how much I love this one. With my daughter studying in Italy and my mom in the process of moving to the other side of the country. . I am feeling the penny for your thoughts a nickle for a kiss .....
and I am going to write an old fashioned letter to my daughter right now . . and this one has given me a great opening line:)
wavegirl22: It is o.k. you are always welcome to come back and I am glad that I could be an inspiration to writing your daughter. There something very deep in our hearts that always stir that emotion. :)
AE,
Pucker up, I have lots of nickles. Man are you gonna have sore lips. Damn, I didn't take inflation into account since that was the deal.
Harvey: You are funny and inflation needs to be taken into account. lololo :D
AE,
I have even more pennies.
Harvey: You are funny,lololo A penny for your thoughts?
AE,
Do you take credit?
Harvey: Visa, Mastercard, American Express! lololol :D
AE,
OK, what is :DYou do know a lot of hookers take credit cards; how in the world did that sneak in there.
By the way, Andy and I have hired an editor and the book will get published. She's finished with chapter one, and I edited her edit. Guess I still have to be in charge of everything.
Harvey: Wouldn't know anything about hookers sounds like someone does though? lolololo :D
I am so glad to hear that you are getting your book published, I am so excited for you! :)
AE,
Don't get too excited, anyone can self-publish. Since we originally wrote it the computer has added so much info. We spent 3 hours today researching and rewriting, it was mazing.
Don't know about hookers, ha! I've read things on bathroom walls. Who is accepting money just for a thought? Tell me about it.
HS: I am excited for the self publication of your book,you have to much time on your hands if you are reading the writing on the walls. lolololo :D
AE,
Lets not forget, it's you that will pay for a kiss.
You are going to love the book, I can't wait until it's all edited.
HS: I thought you had the credit card? Didn't you ask which plastic we took? lolololo I am looking forward to the book.:)
A very nice read. Your points are well taken...I remember how welcome those cards and letters were back in day. I am afraid we have lost that forever. The irony is one of the young people of today will look back and remember the romance of texting...how truly absurd! Thanks for a good read!
Wayne Brown: I still have cards from my grandparents, husband etc. I believe that all of the texting is so impersonal what would they be able to remember life by? Sad so sad but your comment has clearly defined it, truly it is absurd!
You ve expressed a very deep touching story. I do believe that letters do play important roles today and can last a life time when it comes from the one you love. Lovely piece. Bless you
Thank you for painting such a breathtaking portrait of love with your words :-)
Chuck Tyler: Thank you for reading the hub about mom. Although Jesus called her home last year, it is a blessing to know that others appreciate this story.:)
uban: Thank you to so much for your thoughtful words and letters do play an important role, in which I hope many still realize that, although we are in the technological age. :)
Very nicely done. Lovely memories. Believe it or not I still write letters - blank cards and my daughter makes the most precious cards now and then. I don't want to lose that part of communication. Yet - I love all the other types of technological messaging. You have a good flow of words.
Deb Welch: I still send letters of love and cards. Something that mom has passed down. I went through some of the letters that were sent to her a long time ago and it was beautiful. :)
I really enjoyed this. I have grown up in a time when email has always been around and now with texting and twitter... we dont even feel the need to write full sentences to communicate. No one gives out birthday cards anymore! and one tends to remember friend's birthdays only if they are on facebook! It's a pity. This was were well written and very touching.
sweetzara: I still give out cards and believe to this day, the are even more personal then a e-card. You can file them away and reflect on yesterday. You can admire the person's signature and roll your fingers through the words. With an electronic card it just cannot happen. I appreciate your warm response, go ahead and send a card to someone special, they will be richly rewarded with your words. :)
So wonderfully written AEvans,
I'm so glad I lived throught those years. Actually I still can write cursive and sign my John Hancock as a founding Father.Lol! I pray for your recovery and I praise your Mother for raising such a wonderful soul. God bless you!
LORD
lord: Mom was a blessing and she will be forever etched in my heart. I miss her so much and still cry over her often. :( I can't even read this hub all the way through, but I do remember the day I wrote it.
This was absolutely beautiful. It reminded me of the book "Sam's Letters to Jennifer" by James Patterson. You truly have a gift, AEvans.....maybe two...your writing skills and your Mother, too!! Great stuff!!
bobpalumbo: Thank you! My mom was my heart and I remember this day. It is etched in my memory forever. I still see her blue eyes and I can hear her voice.
Really cute hub, love the timing of your wordplay. And your graphical choice is quite smart.
Thanx also for having my back before I even knew the wolves were in my den. A few times over my 2 years, I have complained that the ultrahubbers ignore the little writers or whatever, I am fueled by the powers of art and chaos....blah-blah-blah... no but seriously AE, backup coming from one of the hub pages elite members, and on more than one occasion. I don't get that kind of respect very often. You have all my angels at your command should you ever need, I rely on few friends.
Keep on Hubbing. Blake4d
blake4d: All of us are always here and we are supposed to be supportive. You handle yourself well on HP and eventually those people will learn how to forgive. I will not ignore the new writers and always find a way to make my rounds and pop-in. Thank you for appreciating this hub. This one to was for my mom and I had the opportunity to share it with her before she left us in this World but I will see her on the other side one day.:)
It is a very well crafted piece. Ones from the heart tend to get that touch of old magic. Keep on hubbing. Blake4d
blake4d: Although mom is gone, I will forever and always love my mother. God only knows how much I miss her. Thanks for enjoying this hub. :)
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I*n*v*i*c*t*u*s 2 years ago
OMG, this is so beautiful and your writing is so lovely. :)