By Christine Crosby, Editorial Director, GRAND Magazine
Am I old fashioned because I still like physical cards and letters? I like to send them and I like getting them. Perched on a desk or taped to the fridge, a card has a touch and feel. And it doesn’t disappear into the bowels of a digital device when the device is given a new task.
But here’s the deal…like a lot of our readers, I’m a long-distance grandmother. Our two youngest are on the other side of the continent…(I hope you’ll forgive the shameless brag moment, but they are just wonderful! Please meet Poppy and Juniper)
It’s important for them to hear from their GrandMere… often! And not just digitally. Yes, Skype is great, but we want their young minds to know that real life is tangible. You can touch it….people…grandparents….all real. They may grow up in a more ‘virtual’ reality but they must know the difference. ‘Virtual’ means similar but not the same….it means ‘not real’!
Meanwhile, my list of grandkids, friends and family keeps growing. I want to stay up with all the birthdays and special moments, but my day isn’t any longer and, just how many trips to the greeting card department at Target can a gal make?
Our friend, publisher and guru of grandparenting, Lori Bitter, gave me the solution. I love it and want to share it! It’s a company called Greeting Card Universe.
How many cards are in the rack at the store? A few hundred? And most, I wouldn’t send on a bet. I’ve learned not to give my husband the job of finding a card…he’s so picky, he makes a career out of it.
Greeting Card Universe has over 600,000 cards, easy to search and easy to customize with art and design, color, photos, notes and all. So easy, even I can do it! Then it mails, and arrives like…a card. Real and tangible to receive but fun, quick and easy to give.
One important purpose of GRAND is to find and share resources for others like us, and that’s what this is. I got all excited about Greeting Card Universe and they got all excited about GRAND and our readers, so they’ve offered a free card, just so we’ll try them out. One of my favorite words, FREE!.
And after that, the price is still great…generally cheaper than the store, not to mention the time saved. To get the free card, just use the Promo Code at checkout. It’s GRANDGIFT
I’ve loaded in all the big days for friends and family, so I don’t have to track that any more. I get reminders and can be ON TIME. Very liberating…it’s awful to always be sending a greeting with an apology in it.
OK, I know this must sound like a commercial so I’ll stop and just give you this link so you can see for 
yourself and get your free card for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa. Don’t forget your promo code: GRANDGIFT