Inside the Envelope...
My husband is always in charge of the 'Christmas Letter'... You know the one, the letter that's tucked into your holiday cards giving an account of the family's comings and goings throughout the year. I never envy him this task. It's so difficult to find the balance between "We'd like to share with you what we've been up to." vs. "We'd like to let you know... What we bought, Where we went, How simply amazing OUR kids our and how bright and shiny OUR life is and Don't YOU wish YOU were US!" Of course close family members and dear friends are most likely interested in all of those things... However, it's a pretty good bet they're already aware of the details of your year, even as those events transpired.
It's the cards to the people who have been on your mailing list for 10 yrs. or more... The ones you haven't seen since your son was in a stroller... The people you might not recognize if you passed them in the mall... Those are the people you're REALLY writing the Christmas letter for, am I right? Because hey, if there's a Christmas letter tucked inside of a card, I'm reading that before I ever glance at the printed poem or Hallmark greeting... Admit it, you do the same! It's fun to get a glimpse into the lives of others... Especially those people that every so often come up in conversation and you sit back and wonder what they've been up to... Thus the beauty of 'The Christmas Letter'.
My husband has many years of 'Christmas Letter' writing under his belt... It's not really something he enjoys doing... In fact he usually groans when I inform him that it's on his To Do List... But I figure if I'm in charge of the majority of the shopping, wrapping & cooking... The least he can do is come up with a few paragraphs about what our family has been up to. I'll take over getting the envelopes addressed and including a personal greeting.
The point I was beginning to make is this... My husband puts a lot of effort into producing a letter that is creative and unique. There have been letters written from our children's point of view, when they were babies... Letters written from the dogs perspective... And in 2001 my husband wrote a beautiful letter regarding our country and how grateful we are for the freedoms we possess (I had friends share with me that they saved that particular letter because of its poigniancy.) He really is an amazing writer and I'm sure regardless of his angst over this years letter... He'll once again find, what I believe is the perfect balance.
It's the cards to the people who have been on your mailing list for 10 yrs. or more... The ones you haven't seen since your son was in a stroller... The people you might not recognize if you passed them in the mall... Those are the people you're REALLY writing the Christmas letter for, am I right? Because hey, if there's a Christmas letter tucked inside of a card, I'm reading that before I ever glance at the printed poem or Hallmark greeting... Admit it, you do the same! It's fun to get a glimpse into the lives of others... Especially those people that every so often come up in conversation and you sit back and wonder what they've been up to... Thus the beauty of 'The Christmas Letter'.
My husband has many years of 'Christmas Letter' writing under his belt... It's not really something he enjoys doing... In fact he usually groans when I inform him that it's on his To Do List... But I figure if I'm in charge of the majority of the shopping, wrapping & cooking... The least he can do is come up with a few paragraphs about what our family has been up to. I'll take over getting the envelopes addressed and including a personal greeting.
The point I was beginning to make is this... My husband puts a lot of effort into producing a letter that is creative and unique. There have been letters written from our children's point of view, when they were babies... Letters written from the dogs perspective... And in 2001 my husband wrote a beautiful letter regarding our country and how grateful we are for the freedoms we possess (I had friends share with me that they saved that particular letter because of its poigniancy.) He really is an amazing writer and I'm sure regardless of his angst over this years letter... He'll once again find, what I believe is the perfect balance.
Labels: Holidays
posted by EmBee at 11:05 AM
2 Comments:
would he be willing to write mine when he is done with yours?
Lime,
I'd love to explain what a chore the letter has been this year but it would give away the surprise to the family and friends who frequent here.
So let's just say SURE, send me 49 pictures and we'll get that right out to you.
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