It's been a much loved tradition for me to send out WAY TOO MANY Christmas cards.
To get them all written, addressed and mailed by Canada Post's mid-December deadline, I need to get started in mid-November.
That didn't happen this year. I had the cards and I had the stamps and I had my list, but November came and went, then December came and it was all I could do to get about 25 cards (about 1/2 of my list) done and sent.
One of the reasons it takes me so long to get my cards done is because I do use the tradition of sending Christmas cards to include a typed letter inside many of them. Not the generic, one-size-fits-all "family brag-a-thon" that some people put in their cards, but a personal letter just for each recipient. It's a terrific opportunity to reach out and keep in touch with people who live far away or who I don't see anymore for whatever benign reason. It's a cathartic process for me that brings me lots of pleasure. I love writing!
I also love listening to Christmas music and drinking wine while doing my cards. As I write, I really do reflect and look back on what went on in my world throughout the year. Sometimes I surprise myself with what I remember.
Several things got in the way last year, and I won't bore you by listing them. I made a feeble attempt to get the rest of my cards in the mail in time to arrive before New Year's Day, but that Failed with a Capital F. I finally came clean with myself and accepted that 2021 will go down in my personal history for something other than Year II of COVID: it will also be The Year I Didn't Get My Cards Done.
It's very likely that I'm overestimating the importance of not getting a card from me to anyone, but I feel like I've let myself down.
I thought I had forgiven myself but I guess not quite.
Oh well, there's always Lunar New Year and Valentine's Day.
