Christmas Mail

I love mail.  Sometimes I check the mailbox 3 or 4 times a day until it arrives.  Maybe I'm this way because I'm not on Facebook and Twitter and still believe that someone might actually send me a letter the old fashioned way.  Or maybe I love mail because my grandmother frequently does send me random postcards and letters, which gets everybody in our house excited.  There's just something about opening an envelope with my name on it that's exciting--even if it's from an unknown solicitor.  I know, I'm weird.

But for mail nerds like me, Christmas is an extra special time.  We get letters or picture cards from friends and relatives that we hardly ever see.  And I never tire of seeing pictures of little kiddos that are miniatures of my friends.  It's even fun to hear stories of what people have been doing all year long.  Plus, it's always interesting to see how people manage to summarize their entire year into a few paragraphs.  This is not an easy skill!

I understand that people are less inclined to send letters in the mail these days.  After all, the US Postal Service is asking practically half a dollar per card.  And I completely understand that it's much cheaper to send emails or to post Christmas pictures on Facebook.  But don't let the price of a stamp prevent you from sharing your holiday cheer.  Trust me, a letter in the mail is probably the cheapest gift you'll send.

Even though it does take awhile and can be a headache, I enjoy putting together our own family Christmas cards every November.  I know that some people think it's cheesy that I include some type of letter, and that's fine.  You don't have to read it.  The writer in me just has fun putting together our little envelopes of holiday magic to share.

I'm sure there are friends and/or family members of that are scratching their heads and saying, "but I didn't get your card this year."  And my only response to this statement is that "I probably just don't have your address."   In fact, I still have a few unaddressed Christmas cards in my desk drawer just waiting to travel to a friendly destination.  But if you don't share your address, you'll never get to experience the magic of opening your own letter.  So the next time you get married, move across town, buy a house in a name other than your own (oh, yes--I even search county property records for addresses), or get a new PO Box, let me know.  It would be so cool to actually send out a stack of cards and not get 1 or 2 returned to sender because of a wrong address.  So my fellow cousins and long lost friends, my apologies if you feel left out this year. Maybe next year I can mail some holiday cheer your way!

And no, I'm not sending you a virtual "Christmas card." (Yes, I'm soooo stuck in the 1900's.)