Call me old-fashioned, but…

I love Christmas cards.

I love sending Christmas cards.

I start thinking about ours as early as September. This year I printed ours on November 1. I picked out holiday stamps in person (masked!) at the post office. I wrote out each individual address with a metallic Sharpie on a bright red envelope. I stared at the happy little stack of red envelopes for a week until I deemed that it wasn’t *too* early to send them.

I love getting Christmas cards.

Every year I seem to find a different way to display our cards. One year I taped them to the front of our cabinets, which got a little crazy every time the doors were opened and shut quickly. Last year we tucked them precariously into the branches of a pre-lit tree in our kitchen. This year I found a garland made to display Christmas cards! We’ll repurpose it during the rest of the year to hold Lucy’s art.

I love the photo cards, with glimpses into vacations or new houses. Sweet family photos and the inevitable “Baby’s First Christmas” card. I even love the classic cards with Norman Rockwell-esque prints. I love the written messages or even just a relative’s neatly printed name. I’ve been known to save my favorites (especially for dear friends we haven’t seen in a long time) and relegate them to the fridge for year-round viewing.

My mom sent Christmas cards every year. I remember watching her address each envelope in her loopy cursive. I remember how she displayed each received card in a holder behind our front door.

Justin and I have sent Christmas cards every year since we got married–this year marks Christmas card number 9. Oh and have I mentioned they have always been photo cards? So…am I a narcissist yet? Do I just like to show off places I’ve been or things I’ve accomplished? Maybe? Or maybe I just love to connect with people. I light up like a strand of LED twinkle lights when I’m standing in a group of people sharing stories, saying, “No way, me too!” and so on. I love to connect with people. I love to help others connect. I am a connector by nature. So I think it makes sense that I love Christmas cards. I don’t get to chat with every person on our Christmas Card Spreadsheet, but I do get to send a fun card that says “Hi! We miss you! Here’s a sneak into our lives, what’s new with you?” It’s a connection made where I could have let the relationship fade.

There are stories behind every photo sent. Like this one:

This is the year we visited the Grand Canyon and our 3 mile hike turned into a 12 mile, eight hour trek with just apples and water for nourishment. (Turns out my husband gets a serious case of Adventure FOMO–we must see every epic view, even if our wife’s feet start bleeding)

Or this one:

The fall when we went to so many college football games, we were able to get pictures in four separate stadiums in four different teams’ garb. And it wasn’t just fandom…we visited family and even a former youth group student at each school. A far cry from our life with two littles now…I think Justin made it to one college football game in 2019 and obviously none this year.

Sometimes it’s just a picture that makes things epic:

I loved our newborn/family session with Cynthia Dawson right after Josie was born. She is an extraordinary photographer and this shot of Lucy mid-air? Classic for our high-flying then-three year old.

It’s been a weird year. At the end of 2019, I thought about how isolated and lonely I felt as a mom to a newborn and a toddler, living in a new city. And then came 2020 where the word “isolate” became one of the most commonly used words! I’ve found that I’ve had to fight for connection wherever I can find it. Whether it’s bonding over Meg Ryan movies with a neighbor, or starting a virtual moms group, or committing to regular FaceTimes with friends near and far…I’ve had to find new ways to strengthen my connections with others. And Christmas cards are essential to that strategy.

2020 may be almost over, but we all know that nothing magically changes January 1. It will still be months before we are back to anything that seems “normal”…so what do you need to do to strengthen (or start) your connections with others?