The Christmas Letter is a signature item of the holidays. It is eternal. (Though not quite as eternal as fruit cake but that is another Rambling.) They double the load on the mail service. They create a whole new market for fancy paper and printer cartridges. They are a great way to keep in touch with the many people whose paths have crossed your own.
This wasn’t always my view of Christmas letters. I thought they were weird as they arrived when we were first married (funny how I never received the things while I was single). Who wanted to read form letters from friends and relatives? It seemed to be a concept not far removed from chain letters. Needless to say my wife kept me far from the mail box and the keyboard during the holiday season. She kindly made mention of me in our contribution to the Christmas mail.
And I was wrong. I now love opening the mailbox and seeing all these letters. It’s not that they provide a change from the monotonous influxes of flyers and bills. I can’t wait to hear how people are doing. How has their year been? What are their kids up to? Why is the return address different from last year?
I’ve learned how important it is to share. As I look through the cards and envelopes I realize how gifted we have been to meet so many great people. I find myself wondering about past classmates, childhood friends, and co-workers. There is one couple, who are the parents of a past college roommate, who I love to hear from. I’ll never forget when they phoned me one Thanksgiving night and invited me over. I couldn’t make it home that weekend. So they fit me into their crowded house and made sure I was not going to spend such an important day alone. My wife made a great friend when she worked in Medicine Hat. I even got the chance to get stitches over my eye at her husband’s vet clinic (I might tell you later . . .). They’ve moved several times since, but they always take time to let us know how things are.
Christmas letters are such a fundamental form of keeping in touch and letting those people know that we care about them. And it is nice to know that some one is waiting to get our letters.
