Dying custom

Ten years ago, I posted a lament for the dying Christmas card. 

I recalled the hordes of cards that my parents received each year during my childhood -- some from close relatives, some from distant friends, many from folks they hadn't seen personally since the Great Depression.  Some were pre-printed with the senders' names.  Some were photo cards showing the sender's growing family.  Some contained lengthy letters.

In a world without email or social media, a Christmas card was an excuse to keep in touch.  My folks enjoyed them, and for me as a child it opened a picture of my parents' lives -- both present and long past -- that I would never otherwise have known existed.

But that was then and this is now.

My once lengthy Christmas card list -- never nearly as lengthy as my parents' -- is down to about twenty.  All my relatives, aside from those overseas; those friends with whom I don't keep in contact on Facebook; and any other friends and acquaintances who, like me, insist on observing a sadly atavistic custom.

I never receive as many as I send, but the balance has always been fairly close -- and made closer by a few cards I receive from senders I hadn't anticipated.

This year?  Well, I just received today's mail.  Just one more day's mail before I leave for Idaho.  I have received seven cards, one of which was an e-Card received on my computer.

That's kind of sad.

Of course a few more always come in after Christmas, but those are always a bit suspect as being guilt offerings, sent after the sender has received my own.  Still welcome, still counted in my statistics, but one that seems a bit like the response to a Valentine, a Valentine sent off with starry eyes, that arrives just a little too late.

But that's ok.  As I wrote in 2008, back when I was still young and idealistic:

Maybe in 2008, with email and Facebook so readily available, no one really does care if I send them a card or not. But I send them for myself, at least in part. Christmas just doesn't feel like Christmas until I carry my stack of envelopes down to the corner and drop them in the mailbox.

Exactly.  So those of you who received my Christmas card this year and didn't respond, don't feel bad.  Customs change, I recognize that.  I still care about you.  And I still wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.