Christmas Letter — Genius, or Cheesy?
I love to get Christmas letters (however, like cards themselves, these are getting few and far between). One of my uncles writes a fabulous letter (red and green ink, graphics, joy in every sentence). A friend writes a history of the family medical diagnoses/treatments through the year. I love every sentence.
But, I only handwrite a personal note in (most) my cards, directed to the specific person to whom I’m sending the card. I can’t bring myself to write a letter because with every paragraph, I hear the mockery of others. Just like fruitcake, the Christmas letter gets no respect.
So here is my answer to the Christmas letter thank you letter:
Dear Christmas Letter Writer,
Thank you for continuing the tradition, despite the naysayers and mockers that laugh or sigh or write newspaper columns against your fine work. It takes a certain level of self-esteem to tack on an extra stamp just so you can tell your nearest and dearest everything that has gone on with you and your family this year. It also takes a certain amount of time to find just the right jingle bell and/or angel graphics. Not to mention making sure your color printer is ready to handle the Christmas volume without turning the greens yellow and the blues gray.
I marvel at your ability to find the positive, even in years which were trying (like 2009, when the economy collapsed and lots of people were looking for jobs and cutting back on vacations and special extras like Christmas letter paper and color printer ink).
I can’t help but think, as I read your letter aloud to my family, that you must bring the same level of joy into your own families that you infuse into your letter.
I know some Scrooges complain they don’t feel special, receiving a generic letter blast every holiday. But I’m a writer for a living, so I know what kind of work and craft goes into these letters — it is not easy to address an audience that includes the two-year old granddaughter and the family accountant and still make your news relevant and interesting. Yet, year after year you make everything from heart bypass surgery to the birth of a new child a cause for celebration.
I can’t wait for next year’s letter.
Again, thank you and keep up the good work.
Sincerely,
Honored Christmas Letter Recipient
P.S. Do you, by any chance, have leftover fruitcake to spare for me?
