Today is December 6, and as of today, we have not had any Christmas cards delivered to our home. There has been nothing yet from any relatives, friends, or even the dentist. Usually the first box I have to take from the rafters is the Christmas card holder. Today, with most of our other Christmas supplies out, it still sits in the box.
This is not a “no one likes us” pity party. I know I will receive many cards at work, and a number at home (to be fair, we have not yet sent our cards…taking the picture tomorrow). Rather this is a reflection on a dying piece of our culture. I am fairly certain that at the end of the season I will find this year what I found last year, that Christmas cards are going the way of the dinosaur.
It is honestly hard to make the argument for Christmas cards any more. They are expensive for something that is completely ephemeral. I always grumble about the price of cards that are essentially pretty litter. Though buying stamps is easier than it once was, finding Christmas stamps often still requires a trip to the post office, a practice that practically smells like a grandparent. Most essentially, the yearly connection between “friends both far and near” seems less special in a Facebook world where I know what you ate for dinner last night. More and more people are eliminating it as one less time consuming chore in the busyness of life. Most ominous for the practice, I don't see my daughter picking it up, or many from her generation.
As I print the list each year, I can't help but notice (though I try not to) how many of our sendees have not sent us a card in years. Though the ubiquity of photo cards, made so much easier with the advent of digital photography, and the ease of mass produced newsletter (horrors!) have kept the practice alive for a bit, to paraphrase the Ghost of Christmas present, I don't think it will be found by many more of his kind,
And this makes me sad. What? (You say) The stomper on older practices wants to hold on to something? Isn't that somewhat hypocritical? No, it's completely hypocritical, but to be fair, I've never said that it is wrong to feel bad about older practices disappearing, but foolish to try and hold on to them for their own sake. I will miss the yearly excitement of receiving a pile of cards and opening each one, feeling for a moment the brief re attachment to people with whom I've lost daily contact. I'll miss the added joy of finding a note or a hand written letter enclosed. I'll even miss the occasional beautiful picture or truly clever card.
Most of all, I'll miss the job of preparing and sending cards, a job I learned by watching my mother. It was a time consuming process (particularly in those years when she block printed her own cards) and therefore it was important. I remember the pile that was set aside so my Dad could write letters to his relatives. Though I have digitized many of the steps, I have kept the practice, including making sure that something was hand written on every card, a yearly little gift to those with whom I share my life.
And no matter what direction this may take, please don't send me an electronic Chrustmas card…particularly one addressed to everyone on your list!
As always, I welcome your comments.
Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Santa_Claus_and_His_Reindeer.jpg
Posted with Blogsy