Interdisciplinary Psychology:

The experience of writing the gratitude letter was very interesting.  I did not think it would be so emotional.  As I was writing the letter I began to cry remembering how much Jeff means to me.  It is strange that I can go about my life and not consciously think about the reasons I am so thankful for my husband, Jeff.  When I had to write it in words I realized he is much more important to me than I thought, even though I knew he was I didn’t realize how much and in so many ways.  Since I am the type of person who prefers to talk things out I would not have chosen a letter.  I would have just wanted to “tell” him why I am grateful for him.  Now I see that writing can be much more powerful than speaking.  I think I need to do more of it, especially when I am feeling grateful.  I am thinking that I would like to do this for each of my children and my parents.  It is strange to me to think that it takes writing it down to see everything.  When I was writing the letter more and more ideas came to mind but I didn’t write everything because it won’t all fit in a short letter…29 years together is a long time to thank someone.  It was a very positive experience and helps me to love and appreciate Jeff even more. 

Surprise!  He had no idea that I was going to do this and like I stated above, I don’t usually write, I talk, with the exception of b-day, anniversary and Christmas cards but those are usually just a few sentences about why I appreciate him.  Therefore, he was surprised.  Since I gave it to him on Valentine’s Day I think it had even more meaning.  We went off by ourselves and read the letter.  Jeff really appreciated it and he said it meant a lot to him.  I think he was not only surprised by the letter but also by some of the specific examples I gave in the letter.  He said he did not realize that I had noticed those things or that they meant a lot to me.  Jeff was very thankful and I was very glad that I had chosen to write the letter to him.  It is interesting to me that I had never thought of this before!  Since I “tell” Jeff often how thankful I am for him I guess I just never felt the need to write it down.  Now I see how meaningful it is for the person receiving the letter and maybe even more meaningful for the person writing the letter.  I also began to realize that Jeff is much better at writing me letters and telling me why he is thankful for me then I think I am to him.  I have actually realized over the years that Jeff is a little more of a romantic than I am.  This fact has surprised me, but because of this, I think this letter meant even more to Jeff since I don’t usually do this. 

For the future, like I stated above, I would like to continue this practice of a gratitude letter to those who have been and are an important part of my life.  I would like to begin with all of my children and to my parents.  I am thankful I am taking “Positive Psychology” since I would have never thought to do this on my own.