That Knock On The Door

It was Thursday evening, just before we were to get ready for our Anniversary dinner out, when the doorbell rang. "Are you expecting someone?" I heard my husband ask. It's a funny thing, because people don't just drop by anymore. I feel like they used to, but now they don't. But as I reflect on how I felt when I opened the door and saw our friends from Colorado smiling back at us, boy do I wish we could bring back the knock on the door. Just look at the joy that their surprise visit brought to my heart.

We met when I first moved down to Texas, back in 1985. I'd accepted an offer to chaperone the dance team on a trip to Dallas; as luck would have it, Cynthia was on that trip as a chaperone, too. We connected instantly and before the weekend was over she asked if I would ever consider house sitting. Now that her girls were getting older, she was hoping to go along when David traveled to medical conferences. I'm so thankful that I said I would because they would end up adopting me and becoming a part of my forever family. They moved to Colorado years ago but were in town for our Superintendent's retirement party. So they stopped in to surprise us with birthday and anniversary greetings, to leave a graduation card for Joshua, who is named after Dr. Hearn, and to visit briefly. 

It was a booster shot of fresh air to see them again and it got me to wondering what other formerly-common-but-not-so-much-anymore practices, like that knock on the door, we could revive.

So as we prepare to head to Joshua's graduation,

here's my top five, not in any particular order.

5. Box Socials. You know, when you decorate a shoe box all fancy and take it to a gathering to be auctioned off and you get to eat with the highest bidder. We used to do this in 4-H and it was super fun. Is anyone else still doing Box Socials? 

{Be careful not to raise your hand too high or it'll count as a bid!}

4. Phone calls. Texting has kind of taken over as a major mode of communication. In fact, when the phone rings and it's not a telemarketer, my initial reaction tends to be: What's wrong? I don't' want the phone ringing to be a problem calling. Let's bring back the good old-fashioned phone call just to chat, to connect, to uplift and to update!

3. Patriotism. We would all benefit from getting back to respect and pride for our country and its traditions and core values. President Kennedy had it right when he told us: Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. 

2. Pen pals. It seems that hand-written letters to friends, family and pen pals are becoming an lost art form. Let's not let that happen. I love getting real mail. In the mail box. Delivered by our mail carrier. When's the last time you wrote a letter to someone special, just because?

1. Thank-you notes. I was tickled pink when Joshua told me that he needed to take three blank thank-you notes to his English class last week. Could it be that Mrs. Simons was going to teach her seniors how to express their gratitude in a proper thank-you? Sure enough! So I sent along five. And I smiled.

There you have it, five things plus the knock at the door 

that I find myself campaigning for us to bring back. 

To make these promising practices common again. 

To connect us in a different way than social media can and does. 

To give us that special feeling that the Hearns' surprise gave me on Thursday night that still has my soul singing.

Who's with me?

Now I'm off to get ready for graduation.

I can hear the music in my head

and I'm happy for the Class of 2017.

Where are those darn tissues?