this arrived in the mail the other day:
and it’s the coolest thing ever for so many reasons.
(1) my niece signed her name as MMM. we (me + my family members) often use her initials when texting and emailing because it’s faster and shorter than typing her full name, but the fact she’s now using it as her signature? so cool! so grown up!
(2) the excess of O’s in the word so remind me that’s she’s 11 and i don’t have to worry about her being tooooooooooooo grown up.
(3) she finished a book in a week!
(4) her brother is bugging her to read faster so he has something to read.
(5) she lets her brother’s desires motivate and monitor her own habits, which shows what an amazing and gentle and sensitive big sister she is.
(6) they’re like me, in that, as a friend recently said about me to me, “you eat books for breakfast.”
(7) the letter was also the envelope, aka, it was a complicated and fancy folding job by MMM.
(8) handwritten thank you notes are one of my favorite things in the world (to write and to receive) and SILM and brother G have trained their kids well. in fact, i still have a postcard from when MMM was about 6 hanging on my fridge because her misspellings created the funniest note ever.
(9) i can feel the love all the way from the west coast.
Abigail Mumford 
Wonderful column. :)
thanks! and thanks for commenting here and on my phone. BONUS POINTS for you.
Aw, that is so sweet! You have the coolest family. :)
i like ’em. i think i’ll keep ’em.
Great post aunt Abby. She’s now read all 3 and is off to an overnight laser tag event donning camo face paint. She’s all mumford as you can see 😊
Sincere thanks for all the yummy books over many years. Everything from curious George to the most recent series. Your gifts are always looked forward to!!
mmm’s mom
your kiddos are a true treasure and i love how much of both you and G are reflected. p.s. yes, their love of reading is one of my favorite traits! :)