“Did you also call Asher’s mother, Tzivia,” I asked, “and tell her how wonderful her son is?”

When my children were younger, I loved to send mitzvah notes to school for every good deed they did. Mitzvah trees, mitzvah charts, and mitzvah banners flanked the preschool and elementary school walls.

I remember tearing many a piece of lined paper from various notebooks to write those mitzvah notes on. I also recall the numerous times I stopped at a red light while driving carpool on a busy school morning and quickly marking up the other side of an old shopping list, store receipt, or hot cup lid with a mitzvah note.

It was nachas for them and nachas for me.

Now that I’m a Bubby, the mitzvah note legacy continues. I’ve written countless mitzvah notes for my grandchildren over the years. But these notes aren’t written on just any scrap of paper I can find. Perish the thought! Mothers can be harried enough to write on anything, but this Bubby sends in mitzvah notes on decoratively designed card stock.

And while I relish hearing and writing good reports about my grandchildren, somehow it’s not quite the same as hearing accolades about the adult children I poured my heart and soul into raising. It’s such a brachah to know you raised a stable, good, kind-hearted, helpful individual. I mean, we all think that of our children, but it’s nice to get confirmation from others, too!

Recently, I got a call from my good friend Devorah, who told me she had a flat tire on a busy thoroughfare. Before she had time to call AAA, a car pulled over next to her and out jumped her son’s friend Asher, whom she hadn’t seen in many years. Asher quickly assessed the situation and changed her tire right away.

Devorah couldn’t stop raving about Asher who, she said, was there to help an “old damsel in distress!”

“Did you also call Asher’s mother, Tzivia,” I asked, “and tell her how wonderful her son is?”