THE CHRISTMAS LETTER

DECEMBER 25, 2020 – For years our family sent out an annual Christmas letter and family photo. My wife arranged for the photo. I wrote the letter and added a touch of DYI artwork for the “letterhead.”

Somewhere along the line, however, the effort faded.

For one thing, it seemed a little disingenuous to be 100% positive. “We had a wonderful year. Our kids knocked all the balls out of the park—except the soccer balls, which they kicked into the corner of the goal, every time, sending their team to the inter-regional championship. We traveled to interesting places and while at home, led fascinating lives. Our extended family are living the dream as well—no problems there! ’Hope you’ve had half the year we’ve been celebrating at every turn! – Merry Christmas! /s/ Us.” Omitted was reality . . . the lame brain things teenagers do to keep parents awake at night; the trip that was less than fun thanks to lost luggage and terrible weather; the drudgery of work; and a run-down of who’s mad at whom within the extended family.

Second, with so many other families sending Christmas letters, I tried to distinguish ours. One year I adopted a crossword puzzle format. Another year I drew a stylized Christmas tree and “wrapped” it with slim ribbons on which I wrote family highlights of the past year.  Yet another version was entitled “A Christmas Carol” on which I drew music staffs and notation, then wrote “lyrics” summarizing the family’s (glorious) year. But eventually this “distinction direction” of the Christmas letter led back to a more conventional format with . . . faded enthusiasm.

Third, other people came up with far more entertaining Christmas letters. Many of them light up the room with humor and originality. With this development, I’ve learned the wisdom in the age-old adage, “It is more rewarding to receive than to give.”

As to the annual family photo . . . my wife is still a creative pro at making this happen. And with the center of attention, our five-year-old grand-daughter with the personality to fill any photo, we’ve got a winner with every take.  This year, unfortunately, my pandemic hairstyle threatens to disqualify the photo from distribution beyond people already acquainted with said hairstyle.

Back to the annual Christmas letter . . . that I skipped this year (again): To reassure the reader, I’m still going strong in the letter department. I write annual birthday letters to our sons, whose birthdays are just four days (and three years) apart. Starting with their first birthdays, each year I’ve composed a letter—which I read aloud on the occasion of their birthday celebrations—summarizing the highlights of the year just past, and my hopes and encouragement for the coming year. So far, with 34 and 31 of these letters (the early ones written by hand), respectively for Cory and Byron, they have life-chronicles—in the absence of their own journals, which, if they’ve created such, I’m unaware of them.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

(Remember to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.)

© 2020 by Eric Nilsson