Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Christmas Letter

My books and blogs aren’t the only thing I write.  Each year, I also write a letter to friends to whom we still send paper Christmas cards, telling them what we’ve been up to since the last letter twelve months earlier.

That means I have to go over everything that happened this year and sift through it, deciding what to include.

No question about the first thing I’ll mention: the birth of our grandson Elliott!  He’s six months old already and I’m hoping to see him again soon.

I’ll also include the loss of my father.  Unfortunately, he didn’t live long enough to meet his great-grandson. 

The travel highlights of the year will also be in the letter: our trip to Alaska, including a cruise and land tour.  And of course our travel included trips to Chicago to see Elliott!

The letter includes whatever my husband wants, too.  He’s retired, if you can call him that.  He’s highly active around our house, building and organizing things, among everything else that he does. 

We also include updates about our sons and daughter-in-law.  And of course I always mention our beloved dogs, Lexie and Mystie.  They certainly didn’t understand why they weren’t the centers of attention when Elliott came for a visit, but they’re back in charge now and that gets mentioned in the letter, too.

How about you--do you still send out paper Christmas cards?  Do you do a recap of your year for people you may not have seen much, or at all?

6 comments:

Monica Ferris said...

We used to do Christmas Letters, but have not done it the past couple of years - and I don't think we'll do one this year, either. Too much work, and I don't think they're appreciated commensurate with the effort. At the same time, I know it's one way to keep people we don't see often up-to-date on our activities. Perhaps if I did more work on Face Book . . .

Linda O. Johnston said...

I know it's old-fashioned, Monica, but you're right. There are a lot of people I don't otherwise stay in contact with during the year, so this way I can catch up with them a bit--and some of them still send holiday letters, too.

Jody said...

I still do Christmas letters, though probably not in as much detail as when my children were young. I'll hit the highlights of the year, including my grandson beating cancer. I found out that many of my older family/friends truly like the letters. Most of my younger friends know everything that's been happening from Facebook. The letters are important for the folks who we're only in touch with that one time a year.

Linda O. Johnston said...

What wonderful news about your grandson beating cancer, Jody. And I agree that the letters are more for those who don't follow us on a daily basis on Facebook or otherwise.

Betty Hechtman said...

I like reading other people's Christmas letters. I have done them a couple of times, but have gone back to paper cards with individual notes.

Linda O. Johnston said...

I'd have to type up those individual notes anyway, Betty. My handwriting is illegible, sometimes even to me!