Holiday and Card Writing

It’s Christmas Eve, and I’m enjoying a little quiet time this morning. Pat decided to sleep in, so I grabbed the morning paper and, as I walked back through the house, I glanced at the table where we always display our Christmas cards.

Something caught my attention.

There weren’t very many.

The ones we had received were mostly photo cards with a family picture and a holiday greeting. They were nice, but there wasn’t much more than that. No handwritten notes. No updates about what had happened during the year. One or two showed photos taken at the beach, so I knew they’d been on vacation, but that was about all I learned.

It made me think back to my childhood.

Shortly after Thanksgiving, my parents would set up a small card-writing station in our family room. We didn’t have a large house, so that was the only place they could spread everything out.

Night after night, they sat at that table writing Christmas cards and letters.

Some letters were short. Others stretched on for several pages. Every one was handwritten and personal. My parents never believed in sending a generic Christmas letter to everyone on their mailing list. My mother always felt those were too impersonal.

Instead, each letter was written specifically for the person receiving it.

They asked how everyone was doing, talked about what our family had been up to during the past year, shared stories, remembered old times, and wished them well for the coming year.

Sometimes they only finished one letter in an evening.

Not because it was especially long, but because they carefully thought about what they wanted to say to each person.

The cards they received were much the same. They weren’t just holiday greetings—they were conversations between friends and family members who often hadn’t seen one another in quite some time.

This morning I opened a card from a longtime friend. It wasn’t a photo card, just a traditional Christmas card with a signature inside.

It made me wonder why I’ve gradually lost the desire to send Christmas cards myself.

I never wrote long letters like my parents did, but I always enjoyed sending personal cards. Somewhere along the way, that tradition quietly faded.

At first, I wondered if I was simply becoming an old grump.

Maybe I was turning into Ebenezer Scrooge.

I don’t think that’s it.

I still enjoy Christmas. I love seeing the lights people put on their homes, and I even feel a little guilty that we don’t decorate as much as we used to. At 68, climbing ladders isn’t nearly as appealing as it once was.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that social media has probably changed the way many of us stay connected.

Throughout the year, we post photos, share vacations, celebrate birthdays, announce engagements, and keep friends updated almost daily. By Christmas, many of the stories that once filled our annual letters have already been shared online.

Instead of writing cards, we send text messages, post holiday greetings on Facebook, or send a quick email.

Communication has become faster.

Whether it’s become better is another question.

Some traditions naturally change over time, and that’s part of life. Others are worth hanging onto because they create a personal connection that technology can’t quite replace.

Maybe that’s one tradition I’d like to bring back.

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to write a few more personal letters and spend a little more time reconnecting with family and friends the old-fashioned way.

Not because I dislike technology.

Simply because a handwritten note says something that a text message never quite can.

From our family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year.

May the coming year bring you happiness, good health, and many wonderful adventures.