Not the First Jokester in the Family-- Card Report #6

It's fun how these chats about cards have contributed to our family dynamic. I'm getting to hear about some of the familiar senders, and am sharing with Bubbles how me might be linked to others, and of course there's speculation on everyone's part about how big this thing really is or will be.


Another neat piece is that a few family stories have come out. Today Dad told me about his sister's 50th Birthday, when her dear friend made a giant sign out of an old rolling shade that said, "Honk to wish Bea a Happy Birthday!" and put it in her front yard. Apparently that street in Northbrook, Illinois wasn't so quiet that day!


There's another an old family story that relates to this project. It's a story that comes from one Christmas when my father was young. The depression hadn't been over long and my grandfather was a frugal man. When he saw that the family's Christmas Card list had 74 people on it and they had 75 cards, he could to stand to waste that last card.


So he more than solved the problem. He addressed it to another couple (my grandparents' best friends) and signed it "Sue & Arthur". Well, my grandparents' first names weren't Sue and Arthur; They were Julie and Wilfred. So naturally the other couple was confused. 


That may be joke enough for some, but my grandfather (like my father, like me, and like my Anutie Bea's friend, apparently) liked to take a joke to the next level. So the following year he again sent them a card from Sue and Arthur. This time he included a brief note that said, "You haven't come to see the new house yet." And when my grandparents were at their friends' house, they saw all the Christmas cards out on display. My grandfather took the opportunity to  ask them about this card and that card, finally honing in on the card from Sue and Arthur. "We're so embarrassed, but we don't know who they are," gushed the other couple. They had concern about these folks not being on their Christmas cards list, and the fact that they simply couldn't remember a couple with those names.


Some would give themselves away and have a good laugh at this point. Not my grandfather.


The next Christmas he sent another card. This year the note read, "You haven't met the new baby yet. Love, Sue and Arthur".  


Sue and Arthur lived on for at least a decade, having new babies and raising a family. I'm not sure how their identity was eventually revealed, but I do know that a reveal did eventually happen.


So you can be sure that we found someone in Old Greenwich, CT (where my dad grew up) to send a card to Daddy signed from Sue and Arthur with a note about how the grandkids are doing.


So there you go, love and laughter in the world and in my silly family. My you have a Valentine's Day filled with love tomorrow.

Day 6 Totals

Card Count: 457

Country Count: 12

Anticipated: 42+

Australia, The Bahamas, Bermuda, Brazil, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Poland, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, United Kingdom, United States, US Virgin Islands