Editor's Letter

Dear Reader,

If writing thank-you notes were an Olympic sport—hey, there are weirder sports—my friend Andrea would easily make the U.S. team. Her note writing demonstrates speed, flexibility, and amazing endurance.

Suppose you have Andrea over to dinner. Within two days you’ll get a short, thoughtful, personal letter in the mail. (As you’ll see on page 50, the snail-mail thanks easily trumps the e-variety). She has taken the simple, mundane act of writing a note and made it positively breathtaking. I once met her for lunch and received a postmarked note in the mail the next day. Don’t ask me how. Like Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and other athletic gods, the laws of physics—or in Andrea’s case, the U.S. Postal Service—simply do not apply.

One day, Andrea invited me to attend her 40th birthday party and spend the night at her house. I decided to beat her at her own game by writing my thank-you note in advance, leaving a blank space so I could say something specific at the end of my stay. I dropped the note into the mailbox on my way out of town first thing next morning. When I returned home—a drive of about four hours—I checked the mail. There, on classy notepaper with a botanical theme, was a note from Andrea. “I just wanted you to know how much it meant to me that you took the time to come to my party,” it read.

I had been bested by a master.

Andrea has served as an inspiration for my children, who are among those rare young people who continue to write thank-you notes on their own volition, even though they now live far from nudging parents. They’re good kids, sure, but their motives are partly selfish. They know that in a world where scarcity creates value, their note writing makes them stand out in the competition for internships and jobs.

From my standpoint, their effort brings them that much closer to supporting their father in his dotage. And for that I can only offer a heartfelt:
Thanks, Andrea.

Jay Heinrichs
Editorial Director