Instead of fretting about what to get for your relatives and friends, I took on a different strategy. I put a blank white envelop inside the Christmas tree and the message I wrote to my wife Susan was this. In her name, I made donations to Volunteers4Animals where she volunteers and another donation to the Domincan nuns in Girard, Illinois who relocated from Elmira, New York. I asked the sisters to mail Christmas cards to all my Sonshine friends designed by one of their creative, artistic sisters. However, I received the following letters yesterday.
Dominican Nuns
Monastery of Mary the Queen
15635 Greenridge Road
Girard, IL 62640-7030
Dear Friends,
As we worked toward the big move of all our belongs to Girard, IL, it seemed reasonable that we could set up Sr. Grace’s equipment quite quickly once we arrived. She has been taking orders and filling them promptly before we moved and it seemed that she could just continue that efficiency once we arrived. And that is why we sent out this flyer.
But things did not work out as we had planned. Sister Mary Grace had a bad fall and has several fractures. She is bedridden at this time but we know that she will improve and with time and again be able to produce the cards as ordered.
But now it is obvious that she cannot accomplish the task of filling your order before Christmas. As soon as she is up and around again she will make the cards that you have ordered and we will get them to you as soon as we can. We have kept careful records so we can just hold your order until we are up and running again.
We are grateful for your response to this flyer and feel badly that our plans fell through. But we do intend to serve you better in the future. As soon as possible we will train another Sister to produce the cards that Sr. M. Grace paints. And this will facilitate the process. Please know that we do keep you and your intentions in our prayers.
Gratefully yours in Jesus and Mary, Sister Anna Marie,
