Day 54: CHRISTMAS CARDS

We keep our Christmas cards up for a long time. I used to take them down shortly after the New Year. Then New Years cards became more popular, so I left them up until the end of January. But now I have friends who send Valentine’s Day cards, so we leave them up through February. Last year, I took down our Christmas/New Years/Valentine’s Day cards on Easter Sunday. This year, they came down on May 1st.

Why? I love the pictures. We have three strands of lighted clips (think: strands of white Christmas lights, where each “light” is also a clip to hang a card), so the cards we receive become part of our decorations. And they are filled with love. I enjoy sitting at my kitchen table, surrounded by the faces, smiles, and warm wishes from family and friends - both those we see often, and some we haven’t seen in years. To me, that’s what the holidays (ALL of them: Christmas, New Years, Valentine’s Day, and Easter) are all about: celebrating love, hope, each other, and all that is meaningful to us. Why wouldn’t I want to be surrounded by that?

This year, the cards only came down so I could celebrate my senior. Now, instead of 150 holiday cards, I am surrounded by 150 pictures of my oldest son (some with his brother, some of the four of us, and a few with friends…but mostly James). During this month when we should be attending and celebrating his graduation, we are doing our best to celebrate him here at home. (And I think he likes it…)

When I took down our cards, I looked at each picture and reread each message. It made me smile, with a tidbit of sadness, to read all the well wishes for 2020. “Hope 2020 is a great year!” “Hope to see you in 2020!” “Here’s to a happy and healthy 2020!” How casually we shared those greetings, and yet how much we needed them to be true.

I hope I get to see you in 2020. I hope you are happy and healthy. And I hope the second half of 2020 turns out a bit better than the first half.