Although this is an old thread, bringing it back up to the top made me remember that early last month, I ran across an article (with examples) on amazing website run by a cancer survivor. The cards are what she would have wanted to receive/hear, and hopefully it will help others: I ran across this article in Slate and loved it. I want to find these cards, because they are amazing. And I could have used some of them, too, in the last few years: A Cancer Survivor Designs the Cards She Wishes She’d Received From Friends and Family Slate.com, May 6, 2015 (excerpt) "Los Angeles–based designer Emily McDowell was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoma at age 24, enduring nine months of chemo and radiation before going into remission. “The most difficult part of my illness wasn’t losing my hair, or being erroneously called ‘sir’ by Starbucks baristas, or sickness from chemo,” McDowell writes on her website. “It was the loneliness and isolation I felt when many of my close friends and family members disappeared because they didn’t know what to say, or said the absolute wrong thing without realizing it.” The 38-year-old designer has been cancer-free ever since. But the emotional impact of the experience lingered, inspiring her to design a newly launched series of Empathy Cards—emotionally direct greeting cards that say the things she wanted to hear when she was ill." Full article & examples of the cards: http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_eye/2015/05/06/empathy_cards_by_emily_mcdowell_are_greeting_cards_designed_for_cancer_patients.html

I learned a long time ago these people are not afraid of insulting you, so don't be afraid to stand your ground about your work. If it's all original work, put out a sign stating your work is copyrighted. If my wife made up a poem and displayed it and somebody was copying it, she would quietly just pick it up and hold it. And let the copier say something. One of the biggest problems in this business is "crafters" who can't BUY an original idea. So they troll shows looking for something to copy. And if you have something different, you must protect it. When I made house numbers I had frames designed by me. I had this sign in my booth prominently displayed. "I have a copyright on my frames and a pitbull of a lawyer!"

My Mother used to "teem" the pot liquor and there were other words she used in her speech that had Gaelic or old English roots. However...she did and I do, "pick" the beans. LOL Bump, we are at the foot of the Appalachians so many of our residents have Celtic ancestors. It's just unusual now'adays to hear those speech patterns. Oh...I thought of another word. DH's GM used to say that she would "holp" someone. "Holp" derives from holpen (Gaelic or old English), meaning that someone was helped. My Mother on the other hand, used the "old" word holpen.

This is fun to read.:) Each time I plant something I say "(name of plant) please come grow in my garden." When I'm planting with my grandkids in the little plots I've made for them at their homes, we say it together and it's a fun little ritual (ages 2 and 3). Also, I express a lot of gratitude, maybe wordlessly, as the garden grows and looks amazing, and produces. I also seem to remember a few cheering sessions, like when something peeks up over the soil, as in "Yay! you look marvelous!" Katie, I remember that study from ages ago. Would be interesting to google if anything has been replicated and researched in a way that would -- no pun intended -- hold water. My mom visited Findhorn in the 80's, so it runs in the family.