189. The Christmas Card Wonder
They still come rolling in to my mailbox (a few electronically) but most by the U.S. Post Office. And I love it. They come in colorful cards, or cards with pictures, and they come with letters detailing what happened in their lives in the last year.
I fix a cup of tea, sit back to read, and just revel in memories and the excitement of knowing what they’re doing now and what their lives are like. Yesterday, I came to one card and sat with it for awhile trying to remember where I lived when this person and I knew each other—because she moved before I did, so we haven’t seen each other probably for 45 years. I still relish her presence in my life via a Forever Stamp.
I do the same thing—usually write a poem and then write what happened the past year, plus my favorite books read and recipes tried in the past twelve months. Hope others enjoy that too.
The only down part for me of Christmas cards sending them or receiving them is that occasionally they bring news that someone has died. Once I sent the card and weeks later received a note from her husband (who I didn’t know) that she had died.
They are a wonder for me—of people present in my life in this location; and of people still present in my life who once lived closer. And it is Christmas and this tradition that continues to connect us.
