Sending out Christmas cards is one of the traditions of the season I love. I haven’t seen Marie since college, but I send her a card every year--and she sends one back. Our neighbors moved away twenty-seven years ago, but we still keep in touch at Christmas time. It gives me a warm feeling to think about them and to know how they are doing. We probably won’t get together and visit each other, but it doesn’t matter. We remember each other and wish each other well and hope that next year another card will come.
To me, the emotional connection is the most important part of the tradition.
Fewer and fewer people send out cards these days. Yes, the price of stamps keeps going up, but spending 46 cents once a year on an old friend is a far cheaper than buying them a drink.
Posting “Merry Christmas” or "Happy Holidays" on Facebook is nice, but it will soon be forgotten in a cascade of hastily posted greetings. A card in the mailbox is a special surprise, one that can be held and remembered for a long, long time after its delivery. A card is a gift, real symbol of your presence to someone else.
Over the years, I have removed people from my card list. I usually give them a few years, and then I reluctantly cross them off. However, I will often email the pdf file of our Christmas newsletter to them. I figure it is something they can print if they like—or send it to their ereader. It is my attempt to reach out and keep in touch. I find it very sad that in our modern society with all our amazing communication devices, all I ever get from many people are a bunch of forwarded messages that contain nothing about their personal lives and many of those forwarded messages are filled with hate, which is even more distressing.
Please touch somebody in a special way this holiday season. Send them a real paper card in the mail. Give them a memory.
6 comments:
We sent our cards a long time ago.
I don't like forwarded emails either.
I have to admit that there are a few funny forwarded emails. However, after I've seen them five or so times, they really aren't funny anymore.
I really appreciate an email that's more like an old-fashioned letter, where the sender actually types out a few lines about their life.
This is a beautiful post. Human interaction is falling by the wayside. People put little thought into how they communicate with others. I still send hand signed cards
Lit a,
I am afraid there are people who do not know how to write a letter. Or maybe they are just too lazy, but they blame it on the price of stamps. It's a sad state of affairs. :^(
Thanks for the reminder, I need to send cards.
Mark,
I'm glad you send cards. :-)
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