Holiday Time Is For Christmas Cards

I can remember the ritual of writing Christmas cards from when I was growing up. Mom had a box that had samples of all the cards she'd ever sent and a list of everyone she mailed to and who we had receive greetings from the prior year. It was a long list and some of them have been on it now for over 50 years. These are people that I have never met, friends and neighbors and co-workers of my parents that moved on long before I was even born, but their names are within me from our family Christmas card list and the notes they have sent over the years.

During the holidays, I couldn't wait to get the mail. If the cards were addressed to "and Family" I eagerly opened them. This is, perhaps, why I have always taken great pride and care in sending my own cards and value keeping in touch with special people that cross my life.

After I completed sending my own Season's Greetings with my yearly tongue-in-cheek recap, I began preparing a set for my mother to send. I get them all ready by addressing the envelopes and when she is in a good state of mind, I go through the cards and have her sign her name. She started out frustrated, not knowing what to say, but we settled on signing them all "Best Wishes."

A couple of the things I am using to gauge her mental status is her ability to read and write. She reads constantly, albeit the same thing over and over, and her writing is good considering she hasn't done it in so long and those are the things she forgets. She questioned how to spell "Wishes" the first time she wrote it but didn't have to ask for the remainder of the 10 we did.