The Letter Writing Revolution

Revitalizing a Lost Art One Letter at a Time



Sunday, November 21, 2010

'Tis the Season

As we near the end of November, it is apparent that in no time at all, Christmas will be upon us. Since I was raised in an Irish Catholic home, we celebrate Christmas although I am aware that this season brings with it  various holidays and holy days. With all due respect to all of the upcoming religious celebrations around the world, I will focus on the one that I am familiar with personally which is Christmas.

I have been known to sporadically send out Christmas cards depending on what is going in my life at this time of year. In 2003, I gave birth to our only child and since she was very sick, we spent that first Christmas at The Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). I did not send out cards that year for obvious reasons.
A visit from Santa in the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit
at CHEO December 2003


The Christmas' that followed were affected by what was going on with our daughter. I did my best to get some cards out and would also throw in the token Christmas letter.....an update of all that had gone in within our lives in the previous year. I also enjoyed receiving Christmas cards as it was the only time of the year that fun mail arrived. I have to be honest, though, I never cared for Christmas cards that simply had the person's name signed on it. This seemed to be a waste, to some degree, of paper and stamps. If a card had one personal line written to us, it was appreciated. With that said, the mass mail out Christmas letters were enjoyed as well even though I knew it wasn't written specifically for me or our family. At least it had  personal news and updates and not just a Hallmark greeting.

Since I created The Letter Writing Revolution and so far we are having a relatively uneventful few months (shouldn't have said that outloud!), I plan to get writing some Christmas cards now in preparation of mailing in the next couple of weeks. I also intend on writing a personal letter/note in every single one. Our daughter's birthday lands on December 5th so we do not do anything about Christmas until her birthday is over. After that celebration, I usually take a few days before I can even think about Christmas trees and decorations. This usually leaves me scrambling around December 15th and wondering if I should even bother at that point.

What do you do as far as Christmas greetings are concerned (assuming you celebrate Christmas)? Do you write up a Christmas letter to enclose in your cards? Do you even bother with mailing out cards? Are they store bought or homemade?

8 comments:

  1. I only send out cards to close friends. Until last year they were store bought cards with just the generic greeting inside. Last year I made all of my cards and I will do the same this year with my own handwritten greeting on the inside and outside.

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  2. I have done the Christmas letter (always enjoy getting them) but find I am in contact face-to-face, by phone or written word/email with 99% of the people on my list so reckon they already know all our news. I am mailing fewer cards, usually store bought but I have done photo cards, eg pretty pic of our sugar camp in the snow. I think about handmade cards but I would have to get that thought in January to be ready for December! And I agree that having a line or two personally written in the card is best.

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  3. I used to always do handmades...now that I have 3 kids I don't do much of anything...I appreciate the cards I receive and think someday I'll get back to it. I think what's daunting is that I also want to write a letter/personal message in each one and it's so darned time consuming! So I get overwhelmed and end up with a stack of half-written cards. Sigh.
    Maybe next year...

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  4. Hello. What a lovely blog and a good post (I just linked here from a Progressive Pioneer comment).

    My husband writes a LENGTHY newsletter that we email to all our family and friends--we live in the Middle East and snail mail is very slow from here, and sometimes never arrives at all!

    We've noticed that since we moved, however, that very few family members or friends send us Christmas cards or even email. We miss that little bit of contact and feel the loss terribly. I've resorted to making cards for our sons, 4 and 5, "from family member X" and my husband will bring them home from work and pretend they came in the mail :)

    By the way, as a child we would put our Christmas tree up on December 22, my mother's birthday! I used to love that tradition, but now my boys are already getting decorations ready (I'm making them wait until at least December to put them up!)

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  5. We started putting our Christmas tree/decorations up the day of the Santa Claus parade here in Carleton Place - usually the last weekend in November. All day we decorate, listen to carols, usually put some delicious slow-cooked meal on the stove or slow-cooker and of course attend the parade! It has been a very special way for my family to get ready for the "the most wonderful time of the year"!

    I love sending and receiving Christmas cards! Although not handmade I always insert at least one or two personalized paragraphs. Every year I can't help comparing the number of cards I received from one year to the next! I wonder if I will have a good Christmas card count this year!?

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  6. I have always sent out Christmas cards- store bought but with a line or two handwritten inside. I have lived in so many places and am blessed to have many friends that I still wish to send cards to at least at this time of year. I miss them and have memories of Christmases away from home.
    Last year I did not. I think I was overwhelmed with too many things and had to cut a few things from my list.
    This year, I will try again! Every year I wish for a family photo to include but that seems impossible to achieve.
    You are inspiring me once again!

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  7. That did it.....I've marched down to the basement, dug out my Christmas card storage box, marched back up to my third floor home office and am DETERMINED to get cards out this year!!!

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