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SectionsSkip to contentSkip to site indexOpinionThe Superpowers and Staying Power of Greeting CardsIt will always mean more to get a card than a text or an email, no matter how heartfelt the words. This Hallmark greeting card comes with the message "You are like an explosion of awesome."Credit...Patricia Wall/The New York TimesI knew she liked sparkly things. So this spring, I found myself in the greeting card aisle of my local supermarket looking for the perfect card to give the bubbly fourth-grade girl I'd spent the last three years reading to as part of a weekly volunteer program. She was moving away and I wanted to give her something to commemorate our time together.Sure enough, I came across a cover with a wild-eyed golden retriever puppy flying, its tongue unfurled midair, with a volcano of glitter erupting in the background. On the inside, it announced, "You are like an explosion of awesome." She'd love it. I started brainstorming my little goodbye note to her before I even got to the checkout.In the past year, I've sent cards to a close girlfriend who landed a new job, a family member with a terminal illness and a former co-worker experiencing her first holiday season without her mother. I've also sent out a few of the "just because" variety.Growing up in the 1990s, browsing the card aisle of a pharmacy chain or big-box store, you could reliably find your go-to cards: for Christmas, baby showers or unexpected deaths, birthdays for your dad, aunt, sister-in-law, grandson and so on. But now, depending on the season, situated right next to those classics you'll find cards for Galentine's Day, same-sex weddings, miscarriage empathy, coming out and getting a driver's license, too.ImageThe variety grows tenfold online, where brands like Emily McDowell & Friends have c
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