signed, sealed, delivered

I write Christmas cards each year ... about 20 of them, handwritten and personalized, mailed out by the end of the first week of December, no exceptions. It's a holiday habit I learned from my mother, who learned it from her mother, and it's one I hope to pass on to my own kids someday. I remember watching Mom and Nana write their cards each year. We'd tune the radio to the channel that played non-stop Christmas music and we'd all sit at our big wooden kitchen table. I'd color in my coloring book while they wrote out dozens of cards and sealed festive stamps on each one. At the time, I thought the whole time-consuming process was kind of silly and soooooooo boring but now that I'm older I have a better appreciation for it.

There is something to be said for writing a hand-written note or letter and taking the time to send it out in the mail rather than just clicking a "send" button on a screen. Some call it old-fashioned, some call it proper etiquette ... I just call it nice. In today's fast pace world of emails and social networking where convenience is apparently everything, a "real" letter tells the recipient that you're thinking of them. That they are worth more than 2.5 seconds of your time. That they matter. It's actually quite a powerful thing, this whole letter writing business.

As much as I love me some Facebook (and Twitter and this blog and email), at the end of the day, a wall post or instant message just doesn't even come close to competing with real mail. I don't take the time to write letters nearly as often as I should, but I do put in the effort at Christmas and it always makes me happy to drop a handful of envelopes into the mail box.

Do any of you mail out holiday cards? If not, y'all should try it some time. Afterall, 'tis the season.

xo