Most of our mothers probably taught us the value of sending thank you notes and remembering people’s birthdays with cards, but as with most lessons, some children took to that advice a little better than others.
There’s probably no one who outdoes Sharon West, who sends at least 750 cards a year, each with a comic strip — or two or three or four — that matches the personality or interests of the cards’ recipients.
“They don’t know I’ve saved them maybe for three years,” West said of the comics. “Often, they’re just amazed that I remember their birthday.”
It probably won’t surprise you to know West is a first-born child — the oldest of seven to boot.
“Mother always told me I needed to set a good example for all of the little kids,” she said.
The Iola native said, “I tried . . . to do the right thing and all that.”
She said her mother and grandmother both taught her the value of thank you notes.
When she married and moved to Texas, West would write poetry and send it to her brothers back home.
“I did lots of creative things but a lot of little poetry.”
After trying a number of careers, West eventually became a real estate agent.
Decades ago, she was at a real estate seminar when someone suggested that instead of sending Christmas cards, which is more common, agents should send birthday cards to set themselves apart.
West loved the idea for her own clients.
“I wanted the people to smile. To see a card in the mail and think, oh, that’s fun.”
While it’s fun for West, too, it’s also work.
“This is like a job,” she said. “I’ve got a really good system now (for) doing this.”
The organized system extends from her home office to her crafting room just off her kitchen.
West buys stamps a thousand at a time. She likes the cute ones, such as Betty White stamps.
She also keeps about 500 cards on hand.
Then, there’s a detailed spreadsheet showing who has received cards and when.
Initially, West only sent cards. Then, one year, probably about 15 years ago, she saw a cartoon with the name of someone she was sending a card, so she cut it out of the newspaper.
“So then I started watching for others.”
She labels the cartoons with names and files them according to months of people’s birthdays.
Then West matches the comics to things such as people’s professions, ages or the cities where they live. She particularly likes comics that have people’s actual birthdays in them.
“If you pay attention to what people like and do, it’s easy to match up a card.”
Perhaps someone plays pickleball or particularly likes dogs or cats or even chickens. West has cards and comics that apply to all of that.
These days, West also might include photos or articles in the cards. She’s even started sending some cards back to people who wrote her decades ago so they can be reminded of their kindness.
In addition to cutting out comics herself, West has a couple of cousins who, as she puts it, tear out the funnies for her.
Other family members tease West about her hobby. For instance, her sister laughed and asked why she does this.
West responded: “You like putting jigsaw puzzles together. I like putting birthday cards together.”
Sharon West uses a file system and spreadsheet to keep her card sending organized.
Her husband “puts up with it.”
“He thinks it’s crazy.”
However, the cards and comics bring a lot of joy – to West and the people who receive them.
“You know, you’re the only person that ever sends me a card,” one recipient told her.
“That kind of stuff I really like.”
West said she loves hearing about people taping the comics to their refrigerators. They also will call, text or e-mail her to say, “That just made my day.”
“And that’s what keeps me sending them.”
If you want to brighten someone’s day with a card or comic, West said, “Just start. Find somebody.”
West retired from real estate in 2019. One of her children said, “Mom, are you going to quit doing the cards now?”
The answer, of course, is absolutely not. It’s too much fun, and now West has too many recipients relying on her as they look forward to what she’ll send next.
West’s own mother, who is 101, is one of them.
“In fact, I send her two cards every week.”
West is such a good daughter that while she was visiting her mother in Louisiana in September, she’d already prepared cards that would arrive just after she and other guests would be gone.
“I know you’re lonely with all your company gone,” West wrote in advance.
Along with her other uber-organized habits, she acknowledged, “I think ahead.”
If you know West and she hasn’t sent you a card, it’s only because she doesn’t know your birthday.
In a world full of junk e-mails and abbreviated text messages, West is providing a throwback to a different world, one that some people still appreciate.
It’s particularly good for West’s mother that she taught her daughter the importance of notes.
“She still loves getting mail in her mailbox,” West said. “I make sure she has something fun when she gets mail from me.”
