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The research discussed in this article occupies a space of interfaces between academic fields (semantics–pragmatics of verbal [inter] actions; linguistic analysis–analysis of practices) and practical fields (curing and caring). Adopting the theoretical perspective of a semantics of verbal (inter) action, we use a corpus of letters of thanks from patients of an intensive care unit to present, argue for, and illustrate the identity-oriented polyfunctionality in these letters, based on the modal complexity of the act of THANKING. We treat thanking as an illocutionary macro-act. In addition to its social function as an expressive, phatic act, it has a role in identity: presenting and reconstructing the self, reinforcing the images of its recipient’s identity (both professional and human), and offering a regenerated intersubjectivity between patients and caregivers that goes beyond the practice of care. Our analysis reveals the impact this extraordinary epistolary discourse may have on health practices.