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Summer birthdays suck.

Particularly in Phoenix, and Annabelle’s is smack in the middle of July — the worst time of the year to gather friends. So last week we grabbed her ballet classmates (the ones who hadn’t yet fled the heat) and gathered for a little swim party.

Sophie squirmed the entire time, eyeing the present table, firm in the belief that present opening should be the first activity at any birthday party worth its salt. But Annabelle took her pile home, and as we sat at the kitchen table late in the evening I was glad she was able to open them in the light. The gifts were sweet — a homemade tee shirt with her current favorite saying (“Absosnootly!”), a super soft blanket, a succulent, a plush “piece” of toast with a fuzzy pat of butter on it (yes, you read that right — and the oddest part is that “a stuffed grilled cheese sandwich” is actually on Annabelle’s birthday list).

But the best part was the cards.

I’m not talking Hallmark here. Nothing pre-fab. Almost to a person, each gift included a handwritten (both sides of the paper, in tiny words) letter to Annabelle — complete with drawings of “bun heads,” rainbow markered wording, one girl even made her a book – wishing her the happiest of birthdays, and sharing sentiments about friendship, dance, beauty and life. There were personal jokes, historical references (if you count starting ballet together at 3 “historical” — these kids do), true expressions of love — all the stuff you’d want in a real letter.

Annabelle read each one carefully, her eyes big, and at the end she announced quietly that she was going to save them forever.

Don’t get me wrong. These are girls who text and Instagram and Snapchat (whatever the hell that is). I sometimes catch them sitting together but apart, staring at their phones the way we all do these days. But at a time when we grown ups are lamenting the demise of the old fashioned, handwritten letter, these kids have embraced it and even taken it to a new level.

The next day, I dug up all the half written, yet-to-be-addressed notes abandoned on my desk, finished them and mailed them off. It was a nice reminder that some forms of communication can’t be bested by an app. And I know one thing Annabelle’s getting for her birthday next month: stationery.

 

 

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Tags: Filed under: birthday parties, Uncategorized by Amysilverman

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