4 of 31: Email

Checking my email usually involves scrolling through a rather long and tedious list of retailers trying to sell me stuff I do not need with alluring subject lines like: Today Only! Extra 20% Off or Final Hours or What's In Store For You. Such clickbait leaves me feeling annoyed as I simply delete, delete, delete, almost always without even opening them.

However, today during lunch, I found two personal messages nestled in between my daily Bed, Bath & Beyond and Total Wine emails. You can probably learn a lot about a person just based on the emails in their inbox, but that might be a topic for another slice.

I eagerly opened the first from my niece and was instantly smiling. The contents of this email included a picture of a page from the writing notebook I gifted her at Christmas. The women in my family (my three sisters, niece, and mother) always exchange our "favorite things" for Christmas. The challenge is the price cap, which is only $10 per gift. This year, I purchased cute little notebooks and gel pens. I had best intentions of sending weekly emails with prompts and writing ideas starting in January.

As with all New Year's Resolutions and best intentions, it wasn't until I attended a writing retreat a couple weeks ago where I had the time to sit down and craft a list of writing prompts (thank you Pintrest) that would provide inspiration for the next 34 weeks. 

Week One: 6-word Memoirs. I wanted to get those gel pens flowing and thought that by starting small, I could actually convince these amazing women to write. And today I was rewarded. At the end of each week, I suggested that we share our favorite writing with each other. My niece snapped a picture of her entire page listing all the memoirs for the week...my favorite being: "How crazy can one person be?" Thankfully, I hadn't spoken to her that day, so I knew she wasn't referring to me.

My baby sister also responded including her writing for the week. My smile just grew. These brief statements said so much and illuminated small moments from their week. Some I understood and some left me wanting to find out more. 

Though they were the only two personal emails I received today, they brought me more joy than any other BOGO email in my inbox. 

This week's family writing challenge: Gratitude. Write about things you are thankful for, and today, I'm so, so thankful that these smart and savvy ladies took the time to humor me by picking up their pens and writing. 

And they did it without complaint. 

Now, if only I could get my 8th graders to view their writing in the same way!