Yes, I am one of the last hold outs who actually sends real paper Christmas cards through the old mail system. A few years ago our church started a drop box system. You would write up your cards as usual but instead of mailing them you would put them in a file (A-Z) in the lobby at church. Then you would check the box to see if any cards had been left for you. It saved the cost of a stamp and you were asked to donate 25cents for each card you dropped in to go to missions. Nice idea, but I bucked. Christmas time is the only time of year anymore where I actually get mail in my mailbox that I really look forward to getting! Many years ago I had a few friends who would take the time to write hand written letters through out the year, but those days are long gone. I can't remember the last handwritten letter I received, but thankfully Christmas cards are still coming in. They are getting more streamlined... pre-cards with photos printed on them, but at least an effort is being made.
Today, as every year, I sat down with my list of addresses. I keep a running list year to year of the cards I've sent and those I receive. Seems every year I drop a few names off of my list. There are some cards I send year after year, but the other person never sends one back, I can't help but wonder... do they care? am I annoying them with this yearly card? Eventually I'll make a call on whether to keep sending them, but I always feel guilty when I drop them... they probably have no clue!
Next thing I'll do is write the yearly Christmas letter. I try very hard to make it real. Honestly... it's just me writing.... not Greg, not the kids. Letters that I receive that are written in this weird third person voice really throw me. Why not just say who is writing? Greg rarely has a clue what has been written in our Christmas letter, and he's fine with that. I also try not to spend too much time listing every accomplishment of my kids... do you really care? If you do, you probably already know. Then there is the question, how much bad news? how much good news? Some letters are all bubbly and life is great... probably not very honest. On the other hand this year some bad things happened in my life. I'll be sending this letter out to some folks who may not want to be reminded of the sad times at Christmas. There is a balance to be found.
Then there is the picture. That's the hard part. We've tried over the years to make the picture unique and interesting.... but I'm running out of ideas. AND time to get everyone together. Hopefully I'll come up with something clever in the next week or so. And THEN the Christmas Cards will be mailed... through the snail mail... with a stamp, which by the way gets more expensive each year... And it will be worth it because someone I care about will get a real piece of mail with a real letter and a picture in their mail box. That makes me happy.
What also makes me happy is watching Christmas movies. Fortunately for me Lydia also enjoys watching Christmas movies and she just put one in to watch... so I'm checking out for now. Hope you find the time for fun Christmas flicks too!
No comments:
Post a Comment