Mushy Cards

I'm just not a fan of mushy cards. I never have been. I mean, what is the chance that some blurb writer at Hallmark will know exactly what I am thinking and feeling and be able to convey that in a meaningful and cohesive way to my friends and loved ones? It's just not likely to happen. Mushy feelings can't be generalized and sold mass market and still be personal. Instead, I always go for the funny cards. What better way to tell someone that you love them, or that you are happy for them, or hope they are feeling better soon, or thank them than to make them laugh? Everybody likes to laugh. If they don't, they will once they start because if you're laughing at something, you are obviously enjoying it. So, I very rarely (if ever) give or receive a mushy card, and when I am the recipient of a mushy card, I usually just read it and think, "Hmmm...those are some very nice words that someone else wrote." That is if I read the card at all. I usually skim over the outside and open it up to see what the card giver wrote on the inside because that is what I really want to see: what the card giver has to say to me, not what Hallmark thinks I want to hear.

On a separate note, my sister and I have been at this little game for years that I like to call, "Who can make the other one cry", and we do this using cards for the various holidays. For example, on my sister's 16th birthday, I got her a card with all of this mushy stuff on the front and then when you open it up, there is a tissue glued inside. In front of all of her friends, she read the outside, cried, and then opened it up and ripped the tissue out to use it, giving me a glare while I laughed uncontrollably. I won the game that year.

This year, she won. I got my Valentine's card from her and of course it was a mushy one...blah, blah, blah. The note on the inside, "Love you bunches and miss you tons", meant more than the stuff about sisters being friends printed on the outside. That wasn't what made me cry though. The other card that was stuffed inside the envelope from my two adorable neices did:

Even though the year isn't over and I still have a shot at winning the game, it's going to be hard to top that.