The Great Christmas Letter Debate!
by Marjorie L Sallee
I love to send cards all year around, and I especially love to send and receive Christmas cards. I have several lists of people to whom I send cards: my family, Dorman's family, our church family, a lot of wonderful friends we've made through the years, and finally, all those wonderful pals whose letters have meant so much to me throughout the year. I even have at least 200 sheets of decorated Christmas letter paper on which to written Christmas letters. It sounds like a huge undertaking, doesn't it? Then there's the big personal decision to make - will I do a mass Christmas letter to enclose with most of those cards? Will I be deterred by the comments that I read in Ann Landers and Dear Abby from people who detest those printed Christmas letters? I feel some of the Scrooges ought to cease and desist. They don't have to read the letters if they don't want to, and why should they keep the rest of us from writing those wonderful messages that warm hearts and lift spirits. My own opinion of Christmas letters is “Yes, send them by all means!” I am almost disappointed when I receive a mere Christmas card without any kind of a message. Even as a child when we received fewer cards, my family wanted to find a note or letter in those pretty cards which were delivered to our house. I really do want to hear what happened during the year to the people I don't hear from at all. I want to know about new arrivals, graduations, new jobs, new houses, or even illnesses. I love to read the Christmas letters that my pals send even if I have read some of the news as it happened. The major news networks do year-end reports, don't they? To me the very spirit of the holidays is to be friendly, and my idea of being friendly is a Christmas letter! But I know some of them can be very awkward, and some of them sound like someone is boasting or gloating. What makes a good Christmas letter? Is just a few lines scribbles on the card enough? Do you need to write a summary of the entire year? Do you write them only when you have had some big event or change in your life? I think a Christmas letter ought to be limited to one sheet of paper - front and back and typed is okay if you are windy as I tend to be when I write. A good Christmas letter ought to contain some of the major events in your year-emphasize the positive but don't overlook those major upsets and deaths either. Life has it's ups and downs. The main thing is that the letter should sound like a conversation that you are having with a friend who cares about you. Skip the calender of events; “In January we went to Colorado to ski; in February we had a blizzard and we didn't have power for two weeks, in March..”..etc. Try to be as sincere with the letters as you would be if you were writing to each person individually. Then add that extra handwritten sentence or two at the very bottom to show that person that you had them on your mind as you prepared your cards for mailing. Try to make that comment as personal as you can - sort of like a final hug or hand squeeze. |
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