Blog: Christmas Cards -- Our Yearly Connections

I love receiving Christmas cards during the holidays.

Finding a card in the mailbox is like opening a gift from a faraway friend.

I've noticed that the number of cards I receive each year is in direct correlation to the amount I send out. Unfortunately, I've been neglectful in my card-sending duties. Fortunately, I have friends and family members who keep those connections without return expectations.

As a child, I remember watching my dad sit at the kitchen table of our family home, faithfully checking off names on his list as he signed each card and addressed each envelope.

Cards we received in the mail were clipped to a string and hung on the living room wall, clothesline style.

One family friend always sent us a homemade card. Today they're called handcrafted, but, as a child, I was puzzled by the gesture. I always thought he must have been poor, and couldn't afford to buy a box of Christmas cards. I didn't realize the significant connection between handmade and heartfelt.

Greeting cards from my childhood didn't include lengthy newsletters or family photographs with everyone dressed in matching outfits. Most just contained a written line or two from friends and loved ones making their yearly connection.

That connection is what gives Christmas cards their meaning. Seeing the return address of an old friend on an envelope rekindles sweet memories of friendships past and special times spent together.

I love receiving Christmas cards, but unlike my dad, I haven't been faithful in sending many out. I hope my friends and family forgive my neglect and know that the absence of a card doesn't mean they're absent from my heart.

As for those dear ones in my life who continue to remember me, with no expectations in return, thank you for those precious connections.