A good many years ago I was
in the throes of divorce and smack in the middle of the Christmas season. As a result, I did not send any Christmas
cards that year. Perhaps I need to back
up and explain the significance of this a bit.
You see I started sending Christmas cards when I was about 9 years old.
I got bitten by the “pen
pal” bug at an early age and fell completely in love with written
correspondence. The sending of Christmas
cards was custom made for a pen pal-type like me. As meager as my income was throughout my
adolescence, teens and early adult years, there was always enough for cards and
stamps. Even as a busy adult with a
house to run and a full time job, I never complained about doing cards, because
I enjoyed it!
Writing little notes in each
card, which eventually grew into the “Dread Christmas Letter” never seemed like
a burden to me. It was an opportunity to
touch base with far-away friends and alert new friends that I had fully
embraced them. There was something so satisfying
about the work involved in writing, sealing, stamping and mailing cards. The gratification I felt as the pile of crisp
white envelopes, addressed in my neat hand, grew. It was a source of great personal joy.
Eventually I cut out the
Christmas letter (although I still write little notes in many of the cards) and
I succumbed a few years ago to pre-printing address labels for everyone on my
list (in festive GREEN ink…). I love sending cards and do not send in order to
receive. For me, it’s all about the process,
the accomplishment, the satisfaction and the connection.
Now, back to my initial
thought regarding the year I didn’t send cards.
To this day I chuckle at the reaction I got. I heard from a good sixty percent of the
people I normally sent to. Most of them
said something like: “What’s wrong? Are
you okay? Has something happened?”
Telling, that you’d get more of a reaction from NOT doing something… I explained (especially to those who didn’t know
what was eminent in my life) that I was indeed fine, just taking a break that
year.
In a lot of ways, I found
that response very satisfying. Many who
contacted me, never sent cards themselves and hardly ever mentioned getting my
cards over the years. It was funny how
the absence of a card, or perhaps just the contact, elicited very similar responses
-- “I always look forward to hearing from you!”
It was nice to know that, even though when I resumed sending cards the
next year, I didn’t get near the response I got from NOT sending cards. I was and still am okay with that. After all, I do this because I enjoy it and I
do not expect anything in return.
It’s good for me to revisit this
memory from time to time, to remind myself that when I do something in this life
I should do it because I want to, regardless of the return. I am sure there will come a time when I can
no longer do the things that are expected of me. It doesn’t matter what the reason, I’ll just
be in a place that prevents me from doing what I’ve always done. Maybe I will find it no longer relevant,
maybe I will be physically unable, or maybe I’ll just be changing things up for
my own benefit.
I hope my Christmas card
story will always remind me to -- do
what I love, do what gives me and others joy, and continue to do so for as long
as I can.
I’m just saying…
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