It’s that time of year again! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said that line over my 40 years in radio. “It’s that time of year again to:
- Buy a new car!” (Yeah right!”)
- Buy jewelry!”
- Buy beer and wine!”
- Buy more beer and wine!”
I could use that line in a number of ways here at Christmas time.
It’s that time of the year for:
- Decorating Christmas trees
- Drinking egg nog
- Buying gifts
- Wrapping gifts
- Baking Christmas cookies
- Eating Christmas cookies!
The thing I’m focused on today is that it’s that time of year for me to get out the address book and the Christmas cards. I think I ask this every year: Do you still send Christmas cards? We do, though I must say the list has gotten shorter over the years.
I think I’ve told you before how this has always been my job. Priscilla and I have been married 40 years and ever since that very first Christmas together she has firmly stated, ”Cards? That’s YOUR job.” I can’t complain because she does most of the other Christmas duties. Especially baking cookies. Doesn’t trust me at all with that.
I know it’s time because we took out the Christmas decorations this week and that’s where she puts the cards. Priscilla shops a few days after Christmas and buys a couple boxes of cards. Then they get put away when we take the decorations down, only to be discovered after the next Thanksgiving.
I haven’t seen any hard data but I feel like Gen Z and Millenials don’t send cards like we Boomers do. (Wow! I’m impressing myself with that lingo.) My own children don’t send many, it’s easier to text or use social media. I get it. For me I guess it’s just part of the tradition of Christmas.
There’s no better feeling than going to the mailbox and seeing a handwritten card from someone that remembered you and thought of you. It’s a nice break from what I usually get in the mail: Credit card offers, home insurance offers and some guy who wants to buy my house. (“There’s never been a better time to sell!”)
Yeah so that’s on my list of things to-do this week, getting the cards done. It used to be a two or three day project but now I can get it done in one day. As I said, the list has gotten smaller over the years as people have passed. Are you like me? I still think of those people. I can even remember some of the addresses. There was a meme the other day that said, ”How many of you can remember your home phone number as a child but can’t remember the password you created yesterday?” It has been a few years since I have updated the address book and some of those names of my relatives are still there. I just can’t bring myself to erase it.
I’ll be honest with you that some of my friends will get a special text or just a Facebook greeting. It depends on how we met or if that is the only contact we have. For many of my Facebook friends I have no idea what their address is. However some will get cards just to show that I was really thinking of them and we have that connection. It’s tradition. And, it’s that time of year.
Other Christmas columns.
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