Have you written all your Christmas mail already? Maybe even received one or the other card yourself and placed it on a sideboard or a mantlepiece? If you haven’t sent out your cards yet, there’s still a little time. Think about the joy a card chosen with care will create with the recipient. Nobody expects a full report about your past year – so don’t get stressed out about having to write a lot. A few lines about it suffice. A few heart-felt wishes are like an embrace. A few dreams about what you would like to do next year creates even more of a bond, as it tells of a future about which you might be sharing as the past in your next Christmas card. If you have crafted a card – how amazing! That is a time-intense labor of love everybody will cherish. Such cards are keepers. If you can only put your signature underneath the printed wishes on a boughten card because you are frail, everybody will still see the effort and thought you put into your mail. May your mail box get lots of holiday card refills in the days up to Christmas!
Some time ago we sent Christmas cards with a letter. As a musician I always tried to have something musical for the card. The letter contained a short essay and information about the family activities during the year.
It came to pass mail was too expensive for the 150 card sending. Cutting down the list to send to was difficult as we also received cards back.
It came to pass email and Facebook was a way and now Zoom to keep in touch with long-term friends and our dispersed extended families.
Our card sending list was lightened by losing touch with some, and the death of other colleagues and friends over many years.
This may be the beginning of this year’s letter to be emailed, and folded by the recipient.
Best wishes and a joyful new year.
I’m sure any holiday greetings will be appreciated. As to 150 cards – oh my, that’s an incredible number. It reminds me of my business mail back in the day, that was sent to all my advertising business partners. 😉 I still write all of ours by hand and to a much smaller number of people. I sometimes feel bad at the post office when I cause a line sending out a few Christmas gifts. But my, mail HAS become pricey when you send something outside the country!
I love Christmas cards. They are little works of art, and I love selecting the prettiest ones I can find, as they are meant to be displayed. I save the ones I receive and take them out and read them as a holiday ritual. I have cards from the 1900s, the last cards and notes from parents and relatives, all the beautiful cards from my husband. (He’s a great card selector.) I display new ones and old favorites every year. We don’t have a large family so the cards mean a lot.
How wonderful, Jan! In a way you are gathering a large group of people around you in collecting and rereading the cards!