Card-ja Vu

Okay, clearly I am losing my mind. I stood in the card aisle of my local grocery store for twenty minutes, trying to find the perfect Mother's Day Card for my Mom. (I have a fantastic mom.) Whenever I look for cards for my husband on Valentine's Day or our anniversary, I can never find one I like. With my mom, I am having a completely different problem. I saw several that made me laugh out loud, cards that seemed PERFECT for her! And I'd reach for one only to ask myself, wait, that card really does seem perfect. As if it's written just for her. As if I might have even--hold on a sec, is that the card I got her last year?

So I'd put the card back and reach for my 2nd favorite which by that time also seemed familiar. Because I'd read it a few seconds ago? Or because I sent it a few years ago? I don't know! I'm experiencing some kind of Hallmark-themed deja vu. All I can tell you for certain is that I left the card aisle empty-handed.

Dear greeting card companies, please do me a favor. In publishing, books have a copyright page. Sometimes reprints are given new covers and the only thing that saves me from buying the exact same book four or five times (I stink at remembering titles) is looking at the copyright and going, "This isn't a new release! This is from 2003!" I would appreciate if you could start printing copyright dates on the backs of your cards. At least then I have a fighting shot at knowing whether I sent Mom the card two years ago or not. Thank you. Sincerely, Tanya

Don't forget: Mother's Day is May 10, 2009