In August I had my 80th birthday. On the same day I received a birthday card from the mayor of Saarbrucken. :-)
It says (according to Google Translator):
For her birthday, I warmly congratulate you and thus connect my best wishes for your continued well-being.
In the hope that you celebrate their special day festive and in good health, I remain
your
Charlotte Britz
I'm pretty sure that signature was hand signed with a fountain pen. Blue ink, and a different blue than the printed parts of the lovely card. Maybe not. But this isn't a huge town and how many newcomers had a birthday on the same day as mine?
Even if the signature is printed, all the same, somebody here figured it would be a good thing to send a birthday greeting to its citizens. And I got one.
Now, I've lived in a few towns in the U.S., some for years, and in New York for over 45 of them, but I'm pretty sure that none of the mayors ever sent me a birthday card before. So, in spite of Google's problems with pronouns, I'd like to thank the mayor of this increasingly lovely town for this very gracious gesture. As soon as I manage to take a photo of the card, I'll post it here. For now, I'll show you a very nice painting of Saarbrucken painted in (I think) 1730, and hanging on the wall of one of the beautiful older buildings we visited on a walking tour.
It says (according to Google Translator):
For her birthday, I warmly congratulate you and thus connect my best wishes for your continued well-being.
In the hope that you celebrate their special day festive and in good health, I remain
your
Charlotte Britz
I'm pretty sure that signature was hand signed with a fountain pen. Blue ink, and a different blue than the printed parts of the lovely card. Maybe not. But this isn't a huge town and how many newcomers had a birthday on the same day as mine?
Now, I've lived in a few towns in the U.S., some for years, and in New York for over 45 of them, but I'm pretty sure that none of the mayors ever sent me a birthday card before. So, in spite of Google's problems with pronouns, I'd like to thank the mayor of this increasingly lovely town for this very gracious gesture. As soon as I manage to take a photo of the card, I'll post it here. For now, I'll show you a very nice painting of Saarbrucken painted in (I think) 1730, and hanging on the wall of one of the beautiful older buildings we visited on a walking tour.
