WRITING PROMPT RESPONSE

Thank-you Notes

A collection of gratitude letters

November seems to be this year a very depressing month. Not just the weather is depressing but I am as well. Or maybe I am depressed because of the weather. Even though I do say I like the rain and the fog and misty days, it still makes me depressed.

And while you are depressed it is so easy to focus on the bad in life. In general, it is always easier looking at things that didn’t go to plan than to look at those that did go according to plan or even exceeded all the expectations.

November is a month where we want to focus more on the positive in life and show gratitude. We never hesitate to criticize someone or to complain about something. But it takes so much more effort to show gratitude and thank people.

This is what this writing prompt is for. To show gratitude to people out of your lives. I’ve written three thank-you letters to share with you.

Dear mom,

You’re not just my biggest fan on Medium but also my most critical and the most questioning one. You tell me when I wrote a good piece, but you also tell me when I should change things up and you even give me inspiration for new pieces.

You might not have supported my passion for playing handball when I was younger and surely weren’t excited when I told you I was jumping out of planes. But you still stood behind me.

You surely weren't happy when I told you I was leaving for Africa or when I said I was going to move to Namibia. But you just stepped on a plane a visited me overseas.

With all the things I’ve achieved in life I have to say it’s because of the way you raised me. You raised a strong, self-confident, and independent woman that pushed through life, traveled alone through Africa, and came back again.

To say

Thank you, mom.

Dear dad,

You’ve surely never had it easy with the “three women in your life”. I know you’ve worked hard. Like very hard. 10-hour-shifts were normal for you. More often you worked 12 hours a day. Just to make it through the month. Your three women (my mom, sister & me), surely spend a lot of money in life. And you tried very hard, working a lot to earn enough for us not to feel poor. Ever.

You tried your very best to never say “we can’t afford that”. Maybe my sister and I had sometimes wishes out of our reach, but then you explained to us in a different way why we didn’t need it. Or why it wasn’t such a great thing to have.

While my mom couldn’t watch me play Handball, you were there. Always. Every time. When I was playing a match I knew where to look on the stands to find you. You brought me confidence. You told me when I played well. But you also told me when I did a mistake or let a ball past me I shouldn’t have.

You didn’t take me to the Maledives, a five-star hotel in Egypt, or flew with me to New York. Thank God, you didn’t, because I would have hated it. Instead, you taught me how to ski in the Alps, you took me hiking while living in a log cabin. I learned how to split wood and how to make a fire. You took me to the ocean in Italy and let me dive in the waves. You let me drive to Romania to learn what it really means to survive in traffic.

And you did pretty much everything with me a boy would have been allowed to do. I was climbing trees, playing soccer, and building furniture at home.

This list could go on forever. But you get the point. I’m grateful for what you have done and still do for me.

Thank you, dad.

Dear Dawie,

What should I say? You fought for my love for over a year. That alone showed dedication and passion. And once you finally had me and my love there was no way you were letting go.

Different cultures, passports, or home countries wouldn’t stop you from loving me. What am I talking about, a different language at first? Yes, we had to and still do communicate in a language that is not our native one. For both of us.

Despite all the misunderstandings, mispronunciations, and misplaced words you still stuck with me.

You are my biggest motivator while still staying critical. You give me feedback, an honest one and not one you’d say because it makes me feel good. You wouldn’t do that. You tell me the truth. On how I did. What I did. What was good and what could be better.

You deal with my moods. You accept me as I am. You take all the complaints and stress I’m putting onto you. You tell me when I reached my limit.

When I miss my friends you just sit there and listen. Like a best friend. You sit, listen, and give advice. You share all the secrets with me and so do I with you.

You’re working with me in the same business doing the same job. But instead of competing against me, you try to fulfill me. You help me to get better and push me to reach further.

There is a lot more I could say, but this is enough. For now. For today.

Thank you, Dawie.

Thank you Dennett for this inspirational writing prompt. I invite you all to show some gratitude in life. Thank people while you have them around you. Be grateful for their support, love, and friendship.

Erika | Shruthi | Gurpreet | Kristina| K. Barrett | Susan | Anita | Barb

More of my writing prompt responses for W&W:

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