It's The Little Things That Really Matter

We wake, work, eat, and sleep according to what the landlord, the owner, the banker, the politician, and the schoolmaster command, man had said.   We accept that our time belongs to them, when in truth our time belongs to ‘us’.--Viet Thanh Nguyen, THE SYMPATHIZER, a novel
My sweet niece, Leigh, turned 4 years old on March 29thand she managed to draw me a colorful, handmade card:  THANK YOU FOR MY BOOKS UNCLE MIKE. Love, Leigh I LOVE YOU UNCLE MIKE.  
It’s the little things that really matter.  I was touched.
My brother, Tony, was somewhat amusing with his dry sense-of-humor.  He sent me a postcard of an 1884 French painting titled MAN AT HIS BATH by Gustave Caillebotte and wrote the following:
MIKE,Next time you visit my home, please don’t use the curtains to dry off with.ARMIJO’s
Hmmmm…I managed a chuckle.
Meanwhile, after a mentally draining day at Charles Schwab in Westwood I came home to Marina Del Rey (and I find myself there more than in my condo in West Hollywood these days).   One of the gal’s I work with named Sherry has this annoying twang of a voice.  I almost want to say, “Please don’t talk.  I can’t take your voice.”  It’s not easy when she’s in the trading room taking calls and I am trying to read.  Her voice is like a cross between Melanie Griffith and Georgia Engel (that annoying actress with the voice on the Mary Tyler Moore Show).   
In any case, Alan’s card was a welcome note.   It’s the little things that really matter.I asked, "Is that supposed to be me on the card, looking out at the waves?"Alan replied, "Of course!"
Michael,
I Love You.  I hope you feel better tomorrow. I miss you.  You haven’t been yourself for a while.  I know you’re tired and stressed out but don’t miss the beauty of each day as it turns like the waves in the ocean.
Love, Alan
He sat at a table at an outdoor café and stared at a bird perched on a kiosk, wishing that he were that bird.  He could just fly off and keep going until he got to Switzerland, leaving all his troubles behind.--Charles Belfoure, THE PARIS ARCHITECT