Birthday Card that Keeps on Giving

This is an idea how you can get the most out of a birthday card and have fun doing it.

My brother sent me a birthday card many years ago that I really liked. It had a cartoon character holding a case of beer, and the card front read, "I bought a case of beer for your birthday." And inside it read, "Now, if I could just decide what to get you."

Since I liked this card a lot, I saved it, and when my Brother's birthday approached, I located the card, wrote a short message, and taped a dollar bill inside, and sent the same card back to him.

On my next birthday, I received the same card from him and a second dollar bill was attached. On the fifth exchange of the card, there was five dollar bill and last count a twenty peaked out from the inside the card. We did run out of room to write, so he cleverly taped in a couple white pages inside.

Each year this card takes on more value to me. No, not the obvious money value of buying new cards that may now be pushing five dollars each, but a deeply set emotional value that just seems to strengthen and bond the continuity of our relationship.

Well, heck, maybe it is the money and it's lot more fun.