Favorites on Fridays--Christmas Cards

I was words away from completing an epic post on the importance of cards, on why I make them, even in an age where Facebook and iPhone apps and the potential constant connection might make them more marginalized or even... obsolete. I scanned and uploaded each holiday card I have made for the last ten years, taking us from hopeful newlyweds clutching hands and taking a deep breath as we step off the Cathedral stairs, through the arrival of each of our children and other milestones in our lives together. I retyped the text from my one attempt at an update letter, and editorialized the story behind each photo....

One card away from 2010, everything crashed and I lost it all. 1500 words and 10 carefully formatted photos. I have been working on this for two hours on Christmas night, while my children cannibalize our gingerbread house and cruise from one new toy to another. They're asking me to go on our promised "put on pajamas and drive around listening to Christmas carols until we have found 100 Christmas houses" adventure.

I don't have it in me to tell it all again. It was a lovely journey for me down the nostalgia of those years, the story behind the summaries and the snapshots. Maybe it was too personal for the internet at large, maybe I would have hurt someone's feelings, if they see a card and didn't get one. (I can assure you, nobody is ever purposefully cut from our list--it's all a consequence of poor secretarial skills and never entering addresses in a master database.) Maybe that post just wasn't meant to be. Or maybe I'll do it next year...

Regardless, here is this year's card. Thank you to everyone, my subscribers, my Facebook friends, who follow along here. 

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!