As I was raised in the early ’50s, it was standard procedure to write thank-you notes to anyone who had given me a gift, most especially my relatives. I remember my mother explaining why this was important: “someone took the time, effort and money to give you this gift. The very least you can do is to thank them for it.”

It became a habit for me to write thank-you notes for all my Christmas and birthday gifts. I would try to make the notes personal and meaningful, not just “thanks for the gift.” It made me happy to think that the givers would be pleased that I liked the gifts that they gave me.

Of course these days it’s so much easier to just email or text someone a thank-you. But I don’t think it matters how you send a thank-you, as long as you send one. Especially when friends or relatives from far away send a gift, they would like to know if 1) it was received, and 2) was it appreciated.

When I was married to my first husband, I did all the gift buying for his family as well as my own, and I handled all the shipping. When we lived in Texas, it got pretty expensive to ship gifts to New York where his family lived. I didn’t mind the shopping, wrapping and shipping so much, but it irked me that I never got a thank-you for anything EVER.

This all harks back to treating others as we would like to be treated. It’s just plain rude not to acknowledge a gift. Thank-yous DO matter.