About those Christmas Newsletters

 I have received them… those newsletters that highlight all the wonderful happenings and successes, exotic trips and school acceptances, insert GAG.   I’m not sure why they are so abrasive… after all, we can assume the writer of the letter isn’t lying.  Maybe omitting just a tad.    Something about that type of letter, especially if it’s a mass mailing, seems… impersonal and maybe a little braggarty. ( Is that a word? I haven’t had enough coffee yet to look it up this morning.)

  Well, I did something yesterday I’ve never done before. I wrote  Christmas letters to two of my older relatives and included a collage from picmonkey of photos of my family and my sisters family over the past year.   Not surprisingly,  many of the pics include horses and dogs. What I didn’t do was highlight all the awesome things we experienced this year… and part of the reason for that is… it wasn’t a bad year, but it wasn’t awesome either. And I don’t like the bragging deal, regardless.   I also didn’t want to talk about the negatives… Merry Christmas!  I’m deafer than I was last year, my daughter is realizing that the job market for college grads really really sucks right now, my son doesn’t want to go to college and hey, Mike’s business is really slow and our health insurance was cancelled thanks to the new Affordable Care Act!  And I thought it was a great idea!

   That would just be a downer.   So I talked about how much I appreciate all the family gatherings both relatives hosted for the entire extended family when I was young and how those memories have shaped the person I am today. Hopefully that doesn’t make them cringe.   I told them  I have appreciated their love and guidance over the years, even during times when we didn’t see each other often because we live states away.   I also mentioned their departed loved ones and how they have not been forgotten, how they are still missed and remembered especially at this time of year.

    It’s just my opinion here, but that kind of newsletter isn’t a bad idea.  It doesn’t cost more than a few sheets of paper and a stamp or two.  The recipient will probably appreciate the reaching out in a personal way and  connecting with family near or far just feels good, reinforces what we’ve had since birth, a part of the foundation we are built from.  If you’re estranged?  What better way to bridge the gap.