The Giving of Christmas Cards

Thanks for the traditions you shared in response to my last post. I plan to implement many of them. Some traditions can be quite time consuming and may not seem worth it at the time. Sending christmas cards is one of them. My husband and I have had this tradition since we got married. When the kids came along, we had a family picture taken around Thanksgiving to include with the christmas card along with a note about our family. This year I went shopping for some really cute photo christmas cards. I saw some darling ones that looked homemade. They were very expensive, about $2.00 each. I have about 60 people on my list. That would cost me $120 not including the postage. So this year I made my own using photoshop elements. I decided against the traditional family photo and found one we had taken at our city's parade. We are all wearing red white and blue. Not very festive, but it seems to work with the card.



Whether or not someone makes our christmas card list is very simple: 1. We must have their address; and 2. They must be a relative or a friend we don't see that much if ever. I go through the christmas card list every year and add or subract from it. If someone sends us a christmas card, they are automatically put on our christmas card list. As long as we continue to get christmas cards from them, they continue to stay on our list. If they don't send us one...they are off. There may be people on our list who would rather not receive a card from us. That is just too bad! I am sure there are thousands of people who wish they could be on our christmas card list. Ok maybe not. We tease people who we don't hear from, and threaten to take them off our list.

We do have people who continue to stay on our list whether we get a card from them or not in hopes by a miracle, we hear from them. The Jensens were some of those people. The Jensens are amazing! We love the Jensens. We have found it a privilege to be their friends. We loved hanging out with them. They knew of the best restaurants. She is the kind of person who does everything well. She sews, cooks, cleans house, decorates, everything better then I ever did. Fortunately, her perfection didn't make me bitter or jealous. I asked her a lot of questions and learned from her. A few days before we moved away from Sandy, the Jensens lives' turned up-side-down. Their lives became public, and they disconnected their phones in an attempt to have a little more privacy. We knew how they were doing through his parents. His dad came over to our house on moving day to show support. We sent them a christmas card every year hoping to get back in touch with them. Two christmases ago, I sent them the last christmas card I would ever send them. We didn't get a card from them that year. With one last attempt to get in touch with them, I sent them an invitation to Nathan's 40th birthday party that January. Nathan's birthday party came and the door bell rang. There was the Jensens at my door. I screamed, "You came!" I was never so excited to see two people in my whole life. I managed to hold back the tears. Needless to say they remain on my list, and we continue to receive a card from them.

I love getting and giving christmas cards, especially the ones with family photos and a note about the goings on of the family. When I receive a christmas card, I tape it the door between my kitchen and laundry room. Many years the door is overflowing with cards. Visitors love looking at all the cards and family photos. Occasionally they know some of the same people and great memories are exchanged. I never throw away christmas cards.

Christmas cards are a great way to stay in touch with friends and family and sometimes a hope to rekindle lost relationships. If you are one who doesn't send out christmas cards, make this a new tradition. I know it will bless your life and those you send them to. It certainly has blessed mine.