80-Year-Old Grandma Sends Engagement Card, Not Realizing What It Says

A woman spotted something altogether unexpected on the front of the card her 80-year-old grandmother got her to celebrate her recent engagement.

Gemma, a United Kingdom-based TikToker, took to social media to share a glimpse of the card her beloved grandmother got her to congratulate her on the major milestone.

However, while the card will undoubtedly remain a treasured memory for the 22-year-old mom, she has a sneaking suspicion that her grandma didn’t pay all that much attention to the card she chose when purchasing it.

When the card arrived, Gemma admits she didn’t spot anything odd about it.

“I didn’t notice it at first,” she told Newsweek. “It was only when I put it up against all the other cards that it stood out to me, and I thought it looked a bit odd.”

Only then did she spot something unusual about the message on the front of the card. Something she decided to highlight to her TikTok followers in a video posted under the handle @xgemmarose.

The video begins with Gemma showing viewers the inside of the card and her grandma’s heartfelt message. So far, so normal.

But as she closes the card to reveal what is written on the front, it becomes clear that something is amiss. Written above a depiction of a bottle of champagne with a rainbow exploding out of it are the words: “Happy EnGAYgment.” Pun, undoubtedly, intended.

It’s a sweet card. There’s just one issue. “We’re a straight couple,” Gemma explained. At the time of this writing, the video revealing her grandma’s mistake has been watched over 600,000 times, and viewers were left in stitches at the reveal.

“Ahahhahaha crying,” one person wrote. “I wouldn’t have even realized if you didn’t point it out.”

“Bless her. Reminds me last Xmas my Nan made herself a cuppa and used my cousin’s mug that said ‘live, laugh, c***’ and she had no idea,” a TikTok user commented.

“My Grandad got me a Great-Grandaughter card by mistake thinking it was because I was a great person,” said a commenter, with a fourth person reminding Gemma that “it’s the thought that counts.”

Gemma said she found the card “very funny,” though she wonders how much thought went into the choice of design.

“I know my Nan doesn’t bother to read the cards,” she said. “She just likes the pictures so she had no idea that was what she picked up.”

While it might not have been what she expected, that card always raises a smile when Gemma thinks about it, so maybe her grandma was on to something.

The advent of the internet and the increase in the variety of easily available digital communication tools has led to a significant decline in the amount of mail the average person sends.

According to figures compiled by Statista, the U.S. Postal Services has experienced a year-on-year decline in mail volume every year since 2006. In 2023, the USPS delivered just 116.15 billion units of mail, down from 213 billion units in 2006.

But while there might have been a noticeable drop in the use of these services, most of us would still rather receive a physical card through the mailbox than a digital one in our inbox.

In a 2023 poll of 2,000 U.S. adults conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Shutterfly, two in three respondents said they preferred to receive physical cards.

Sending a physical card requires more thought and effort, but it leaves the recipient with a treasured keepsake marking a particular life event or occasion. That certainly rings true for Gemma.