Do you send Christmas cards?
I still love doing this each year but admit it gets harder for me to actually write.
Just finding a comfortable position for bending my back, and holding my neck
at an angle for a long period while sitting at a table is difficult, so I usually stand
at the kitchen island and write for a while then take a break.
My once prize-winning handwriting of school years, waaaaaay back,
is no longer my pride and joy. . . . . . my hand just does not run smoothly
across a page and reminds me of when my mother, who had a lovely
hand writing, bold and even, complained about the difficulty of writing in
her later years.
Today was my dear mother's birthday, born in 1911, 104 years ago!
She has been gone many years now but I still miss her, think about her
so often, and last evening looked at photos of her and told her so.
I recalled the many wonderful things we shared, including writing cards,
and long weekly letters to one another after I came to live in the USA in 1962.
I still have boxes of her letters to me.
Anyway, my Christmas card writing is almost completed and many of my cards
this year are bird-themed as I thought them lovely - some traditional and another
box more contemporary and a bit quirky - an unusual choice for me but I do love
the North Carolina state bird, the Cardinal.
Yesterday I also managed to catch the gentle Mourning dove sitting in my now
bare fig tree with the fiery maple tree in the background.
I'm thinking perhaps this photo would make a pretty card for next year!
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I do still write cards, and not just at Christmas. It seems to be a dying art, that of penmanship, and I intend to keeping it going as long as possible.How lovely that you have kept your mother's correspondence. My mom turned 89 this month and still sends cards as well.
ReplyDeleteI send cards and my writing, which was never a prize winner, has really deteriorated. I generally sit on the couch while doing them.
ReplyDeleteThe dove picture would make a beautiful card. I rarely send card anymore. It is a shame. It is a nice thing to do and last year, I received a card from a childhood friend that was a wonderful reunion.
ReplyDeleteI was amazed at the coincidence when I read this Mary - your mother was 3 days old when my mother was born on the 9.12.1911
ReplyDeleteI send cards, not as many as previously, but a few to cherished old friends and certainly to most family. Coincidentally, the two cards I've received this year both have cardinals on the front. Such pretty, bright birds for this gray season.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your week, Mary.
The photo you made is really very beautiful. The tree that made the red background has to be very pretty. Maybe next time you can take the photo if it, too. I never send Christmas cards, but this year I send some on Halloween and it was pretty much fun. So I think this year I'll send some Christmas cards to my relatives.
ReplyDeleteIf I lived in the States, I would send Christmas cards to everyone. But I live here and the mail system is the pits. However, I do sometimes mail things out and hope for the best. And if I was organized, I could mail things early and they might actually arrive in time. Maybe 2016 will be the year when I get my act together at the magical age of 50. ha! :)
ReplyDeleteI didn't send cards the last couple of years but I am this year. I don't spend a lot of time writing on the cards tough. I usually just send love and sign.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Penny
I agree, that last photo would be perfect for a Christmas card. As you may have noticed there is very little hand writing anymore on my cards, but the sentiments are the same. I do love giving and receiving cards, though every year I wonder how long I will continue doing it. When I get an email greeting for some reason it just isn't the same. An email greeting and an real card now that is the best.
ReplyDeleteI miss the days when everyone sent cards - even kids. I agree - it is harder now to find a comfy position to write and my handwriting suffers - and my hands cramp up. I remember a dear friend - who is gone now - used to stand at her kitchen counter to write letters, cards and even pay bills - and I found it strange - wondering why she would clutter her counter with such projects when the rest of her house was positively spotless at all times - but now I understand - since I'm now past the age that she was when I noticed her doing this - we all change with our ages - but it is good to be our ages. Your photo would make a fabulous card - now is the time to order them - for instance, snapfish has some fabulous specials right now - and you'd be ready for next year. What treasures your mother's letters are - and how fortunate that you had a kind and wonderful mother that is missed. Happy week ahead my friend
ReplyDeleteI don't send out many cards - maybe about 20 - mostly to far-away friends and relatives.
ReplyDeleteI write cards almost only on Christmas but I love it. And me too, I have boxes full of cards and letters from many years ago, from my parents, friends, my husband, plus all the little ones mu daughter sent to us when she was a little girl...
ReplyDeleteOh dear, dear Mary, my heart aches as I read your sweet recollections of that time gone by sharing letters with your mother across the pond and recalling her so lovelingly. I'm sure it was heard when she passed; I know it will be for me when my own mother (aged 85) passes whose dementia is certainly showing more and more. Very sad as I don;t see here nearly as much as I like and my wife has never known her as the INCREDIBLY vivacious, witty, smart adn grgarious woman she used to be.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, yes, love bird cards, as you can see from the ones I've created (http://www.dottyhill.com/christmas-portfolio/) for xmas. My handwriting, unlike yours, has never been readable or lovely looking. It's horrendous actually. If only it was a doctors. It is so hard to read that even I can only read about 50% of what I jot down if that. Oh dear me. Nevertheless, I do try to do cards for a few people each year as it is such a wonderful gift from almost a bygone era, sad to say. I am amazed, actually, at just how many of mine and Alexandra's have sold over this xmas season at the coffee shop downtown. We keep running out every fortnight and having to restock our row of them. We only make about $1.25 on each after paying for printing and a share to the shop but it's lovely "prettyfying" the world around us and getting our creations out there for others to enjoy something unique that they won't find elsewhere.