cards Archives - CONSIDER THIS with Annette Petrick

Backstory

You probably start Christmas shopping in October, like my friend Susan. Her gifts are wrapped, labeled and stored long before most people. She is really good at selecting just the right present. Wouldn’t it feel good if something you choose for someone this year wound up being the best gift they ever had?

Christmas Cards

Do you send Christmas cards? Lots of people no longer do. It may not be in their budget . . . or they don’t have the time . . . or they have not kept up with the physical addresses of friends and family, because they stay in touch on Facebook or through email.

Personally, I still send greeting cards. If you receive one from me, know it was selected especially for you. I don’t buy a box of all the same cards and just dole them out. Families with children get a card with Santa or a snowman or a happy feel. Mature adults may get a vintage scene. Religious recipients will probably bear a nativity scene. Cards to my Jewish or Arabic friends will wish happy holidays rather than Merry Christmas.

I begin the card-sending process, the day after Thanksgiving, making sure my list is up to date, selecting each card for each person or family, and writing a personal message in each.

For some folks, there may be one of those Christmas letters that some folks dread and others cherish. They only go to those I think would want to know what the last 365 days have brought to my life. My letters will be heavy on the good news, light on the stuff that sucks. If you receive one, I hope you enjoy it or at least put up with me connecting the dots of the last year.

Merry Christmas.

[Show #519]

You can tweet up to 140 words on Twitter. You can share your latest hairstyle with the world on Facebook or send your message the old fashioned way – by email. But I still enjoy using the totally antiquated form – a personal note through the US mail. Emotions conveyed through your own handwriting seem to have such a special effect.

Have you ever FOUND an ancient hand-written note; something tucked away in a trunk or a drawer because it was too precious to be discarded? Maybe a love letter sent from granddad to grandma while they were courting . . . a letter sent from a battlefield to a loved one at home or a picture drawn with love and crayons by a child for a parent.

The note you send to a friend or loved one today may be kept with the same kind of loyalty and become a treasure to be shared, years from now. Wouldn’t it be interesting to know who kept a hand written note that you sent?

You might be surprised to hear how many of your notes and letters are carefully stashed in someone’s special place. It’s a place where spelling and grammar don’t count and sentiment does. It’s like a peek into a person’s soul.

Love seems to come through so much better, when it’s hand written.

[Show #325]