Thoughtful Thursday: Thanks
November 25, 2010
In honor of American Thanksgiving, let’s talk about thanks. Not the things we’re thankful for, which are discussed plenty by most of us on this day. Instead, we’ll talk about the thanks that we should have given someone, but which for whatever reason we never communicated.
As I detailed over a year ago in my birth story, the attending OB who delivered Burrito and Tamale did an amazing job dealing with my massive hemorrhage due to placenta accreta. A lesser surgeon would definitely have lost me my uterus, and quite possibly my life, but he saved both.
I actually did verbally thank the doctor at the time.
With all the genuineness I could convey, as they were wheeling me to recovery, I told the doctor, “Thank you so much.” Thank you for saving an organ that I probably have no use for but would have missed, thank you for doing such an incredible job, thank you for saving my life.
But, I never saw him again after that, and I never sought him out to thank him more formally. Saving someone’s life feels like it deserves more than a verbal thanks. Letter, balloons, skywriting, something.
I’ve written thank you notes to friends of friends who’ve given the twins the dinkiest of gifts, but I never thanked the doctor who saved my life and my (theoretical) fertility.
And so, this year I’ll send him a holiday card depicting the babies who have grown so much since he last saw them, along with a proper hand-written thank you note.
Who should you have thanked but never did? What’s stopping you?
Happy Thanksgiving!
November 25, 2010 at 10:45 pm
Just reading this post reminds me that I really should’ve more fully thanked the doctor who did my C-Section with the twins. I can’t remember if I thanked him enough when I spoke to him about the possibility of having a VBAC with this pregnancy, and I honestly don’t think I did thank him enough. He also saved my life and the twins lives, and not only did he save my uterus but I actually got pregnant naturally only a year later. (So he obviously did a good clean-up job.) The man is basically my hero, but somehow I would feel funny just calling him up and saying “I really wanted to thank you for saving my life almost two years ago.” If he had been my original OB (rather than the OB on call) then I would’ve had more opportunity to thank him, but I haven’t actually seen him since the twins were born. (His wife was actually the doctor in the NICU who took care of the twins, which was very neat.) Anyways, I should send him a card when this baby is born and thank him not only for saving my life and the twins, but also allowing me to be able to bring another baby into the world.
November 26, 2010 at 2:04 am
I want to thank Mrs. B who gave me many thoughtful gifts and items….she was very loving and genuinely cared for me. A dress and a shawl she sent me is very dear to me. I never reciprocated her gestures as much as I should have. I can’t think her because she lost her battle to Cancer in 2007-08. But I think of her often.
Happy Thanksgiving!
November 26, 2010 at 2:05 am
…oops….’I can’t thank her’
November 26, 2010 at 3:57 am
I’d say thank you to my dad for being the best dad he could manage to be. I can’t, because he isn’t here anymore.
November 26, 2010 at 10:03 am
I try to be very good about thanking people for things. I should thank my aunt for all the support she’s given me throughout the years, but she’s from the undemonstrative side of the family and would probably be embarrassed. So, I’ve tried to just give back instead. I think the message is there and understood…
November 27, 2010 at 8:59 am
I’d like to send cards with pics of the boys to thank my fertility doctor and my acupuncturist. I’m so grateful for them being part of the team getting us what we wanted.
November 28, 2010 at 10:08 am
i’ve been thinking about this for a few days and can’t come up with a good answer. i’m one of those people who send hand written thank you notes still…i even sent one to the RE clinic after the kids were born.
i suppose i could always thank B for being such a great husband and father. it all seems to come pretty naturally to him, which is amazing given his parents. i hope that he knows that is how i feel. maybe i should just do it?
November 29, 2010 at 9:49 pm
I wish I could thank and thank again the doctor who did my delayed-interval delivery and saved my surviving son’s life. It was an incredibly difficult procedure and I think nobody else on earth could have done it. Other doctors simply refused to try. In a drug-induced haze during the cerclage I apparently told him he was like God (I say weird things when I’m anesthetized), and I said thank you after, but every time I look at my son, I think it’s not enough.