One portion of what I try to do in support of marriages is to list anniversaries in the church newsletter and to send a card. Simple enough. Except when I get a date wrong, or the number of years they have been married. Misspell a name, or worse yet be ignorant of a marriage that ended. 

There have been times when I inadvertently left people off. One woman called feeling teary that she had been overlooked and offered to show me her marriage certificate. I have known her for forty years. I know her children and grandchildren. I apologized  and promised not to forget her again. 

Recently it seemed prudent to change the policy to only include people who have given me permission. Privacy is a current concern. This has been the catalyst for trying to make contact with everyone impacted. Which is a thousand people.

The first woman who called to grant that hers be included was easy enough. I logged it in my phone. Then came three more, and a couple after that. I put little emojis by their names, and started amending the lists. August has eighty seven pairs, October only sixty six. Maybe by the time I roll around to June and her surfeit of celebrations, I will have this under my belt. Then again. 

A few years back I noticed on John's paycheck that there was a deduction I did not recognize. I asked him about it. 

"That is for a loan we took out to pay for the sewer. But it should have been paid for by now." 

I decided to call. The woman who handles those details checked on it and got back to me. 

"I am so sorry. Yes we should have stopped that deduction five months ago. You have repaid it in full. I will correct it in his next paycheck."

It would have been possible to be miffed. After all they were docking us a few hundred bucks. But for one moment I tried to picture the mass of numbers being juggled by a fallible human such as myself for all the employees in her care. Probably she is more ept that me when it comes to spread sheets, relying on software a notch more elegant than an app. 

If it ever happens again I think that instead of complaining I will buy an extra pretty card and send it to her.