Certificates Of Merit Matter

When I started out
in business,
I didn’t understand
why managers/companies
would give employees
certificates of merit
and other purely paper awards.
It’s a piece of paper.
Why would that matter to people?

Now that I write romance novels
I understand.
The hero can make a huge sacrifice
for the heroine,
almost dying.
He can tell her he loves her.
He can kiss her
as though he can’t live without her.

But if he doesn’t GIVE
the heroine something, anything,
a token of his love,
I ALWAYS receive emails
from distraught readers
wondering if he truly loves her.
ALWAYS.

It isn’t about the value of the gift
(usually the opposite
– the gift has a meaning
only for the two of them).
It is about the giving of the gift.

THIS is why certificates of merit matter.
Many people need this physical representation.
Don’t be stingy with the paper.