DEAR MISS MANNERS: I’m a terrible procrastinator. I have procrastinated sending thank-you letters for multiple years for multiple events (our wedding, my baby shower, our child’s birthday parties). The worst offense is our wedding, five years ago.
Is it ever too late to send a thank-you letter? Could I send a single thank-you now, for the gifts and attendance to all these events?
GENTLE READER: Yes, but it had better be a good one. Being a procrastinator is not a decent excuse, and Miss Manners is not going to let you off the hook by declaring a statute of limitations.
What you need to atone for is not postponement so much as blatantly apparent ingratitude. So you need to name and praise your use of each of these presents (at least vaguely, if you can’t remember what they were) and also express appreciation for your benefactors’ continued thoughtfulness and generosity over the years.
Yes, this will be a lot of work. But when you do not pay a debt when it is due, it accrues interest.
***
(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)
