When my sister was 15, she got me a card for my 19th bday. 

On the front it read: 

“For my cool sis on her Birthday,

If you were any cooler...”

Then you open it and it reads: 

“...you’d be me”.

She figured that since it said everything she was thinking, she wouldn’t even need to sign it and presented the card to me as if it came straight from the greeting card stand in the store. 

When her birthday rolled around, I figured that’s a pretty perfect card to give her and to my delight it wasn’t marked or personalised.

I presented her with it, as is.

We continued this game for a couple more years till finally on her 19th bday, I broke the seal and wrote a short message taking up a small space inside, encouraging her to do the same next time. 

Since then, we’ve both said goodbye to our teenage years (and our 20’s), celebrated our 21st’s (and our 30th’s), graduations, weddings, a birth, citizenships, promotions, country relocations and career changes, and added inserts into the card...

But this card has remained the same.

Neither of us are card people and we don’t keep many ourselves, but this one isn’t just a birthday card. 

You can put a value on a birthday card, but our one is priceless.

It’s become such a vital treasure to our relationship that we fly it between London and New York only via the most securely packaged, express first class, trackable postal service available today.

Better yet, we deliver it to each other in person. And totally keep it on us as hand luggage. 

This year, for my sister’s 30th Birthday, I did just that and delivered it to her personally in Brooklyn! 

!! I just realised that the card is now exactly half her age! Whoa. Hope that doesn’t put you off starting one of these with each one of your siblings too! Or your spouses. Or children. Or friends. 

It’s literally such a fun thing to receive every single year, no present comes even close.

Do it Do it Do it!