With Christmas only a few days away, I am mailing the last Christmas letters. "The letter" is a new tradition, one that come of age with the age of computers and desktop publishing. Years ago I wrote all letters to friends in long hand and it was with some reluctance that I gave the practice up. Time commitments and the infinite possiblities of computer-generated newsletters finally convinced me - 2010 will be the 13th one I have sent out! Still, I feel the polished letter with colour photos has lost the personal touch of the handwritten one...
As I drafted the 2010 version of the annual saga of my ongoing activities I questioned the content. How many people really wanted to read yet another list of Sharon's activities? I did want to inform people of what was going on in my life but I didn't want the letter to smack of personal accomplishments that was actually boring to others. Yet I wanted everyone to know that I was enthusiastic about my life. How to do that... That's part of what was lost in the individual handwritten letter - writing only what would be interesting to that person in a tone that was appropriate to that person. The nature of the mega-copied letter I mail out now is, by its definition, more like a newpaper than a letter. To "fix" that flaw and to ease my mind, I left a large blank space on the last page for my own handwritten personal notes.
And the letter itself? Well, it took on a new format in my effort to be more interesting. I have tried many themes in the past - the animals reviewing the year, a recipe and, last year, 65 things I was grateful for - but this theme is a first. My Christmas letter this year is written as a play complete with a list of players, settings and dialogue. I know absolutely nothing about writing plays so there was a learning curve but hopefully it is not judged, just enjoyed.
I'm just receiving letters and cards myself. In the last mail I picked up a card from a very good friend of mine. Inside was a three page handwritten letter. I read it three times and I'll read it again in the holidays. Well-written, informative, charming and personal. Although I appreciate every Christmas contact of any kind - gifts, cards, photocopied letters or emailed ones - this letter will probably be the highlight of the season. Penny is an extremely busy wife, mother, homemaker, career woman and all around caregiver to her family and animals and she took the time to write. Not type. She took out a pen and paper and wrote three pages to me in her own handwriting. Thank you, my friend.