Okay, I’ll admit it. I am one of those people that never remembers a birthday. Friends and family both suffer equally when it comes to my memory. Most of the people I am close with understand this about me and generously forgive this little shortcoming, but others can get a little touchy if they don’t even get a little happy birthday card.

Just a little while ago I found myself in a situation where someone very important to me had a birthday coming up. Which is to say: I remembered that her birthday was coming up the day before it actually arrived. I was going to be in trouble if I couldn’t scrape something together – and fast.

Like so many before me, I turned to the Internet in my time of need. Surely I could find some ideas for cheap and fast birthday gifts online. Surely there were instructions for making a simple happy birthday card or, failing that, instructions on how to offer the most sincere apology ever seen in this hemisphere.

As I searched around I came across a site that offered free birthday ecards. I had both seen and received these in the past, and at the time I really wasn’t all that impressed by them. For some reason’ cartoon puppies barking the Happy Birthday song – in the middle of my office – just didn’t really appeal to me.

But I was desperate this time, so I looked a little further into the free birthday ecards that they listed on their site. They were a little different from the one I received so long ago. There were a lot of options available that actually seemed like something she would enjoy.

I looked through the site and skipped the ones with cheesy animation and electronic sounds. I was more interested in customizing something that would impress her a little more than that. This time I went with a free birthday ecard that let me embed a YouTube video. It required a little extra research to find the right one (the one that involved a real puppy staring at the camera with really puppy dog eyes). It was so heart wrenching she would have no choice but to forgive me. I ended it with a much happier note, though, that should make her smile.

Of course, you never know how it will go until you actually send it. There’s something pretty impersonal about sending happy birthday cards through email, but at the same time I can only hope I personalized it enough to make her smile.

This is clearly not the same as sending flowers or jewelry, but I did have to put in some time and effort to get the right one. I don’t know if she’ll consider free birthday ecards the equivalent of those other things, but it’s the thought the counts. And if it’s not, it should be.

It may not always be the most appropriate option, emailing someone you care about a free birthday ecard is a very simple way to show them that you thought of their birthday. You can also schedule them in advance just in case you forget. You can find plenty of great ecards online.

categories: family,friends,birthday,holiday,reminder,planning