Skip to main content

Christmas Cards




I love this time of year, there’s just something about Halloween through Epiphany that speaks to my soul. Halloween is just good fun, we get to shed our daily personalities and be what we want for an evening. Then Thanksgiving really is a time for me to reflect on what I’m thankful for and at the heart of that is always my family. I always think about them in a more pressing, way if that makes sense, starting in November and through Advent and into Christmas. The past years of Thanksgiving and Christmas meals tumble through my mind. 

I think of how we’ve grown and aged. I remember and re-mourn those we have lost. I delight and rejoice in those we have gained. When Advent comes I love getting out the decorations and ornaments as they bring back old memories to life - as you know from my past writings this is particularly true of my handmade ornaments. But I have another collection that comes out of storage this year that also means a lot to me. My Christmas cards. 

You might be asking why Christmas cards. After all, I know a lot of people who just throw them away when Christmas is over. That’s not me. For me there’s two ways I can easily connect to the past - hearing a person’s voice (which is why I’m still looking for the interview tape of my Grandfather) or seeing their handwriting. Which is why I love my Christmas cards so much! 

Every Christmas, I look at the cards my Grandfather gave me. I see his handwriting and I feel his hug. I smell his cologne. I hear his voice, “Ho, Ho, Ho, how’s my Red Head?” 

I look through the rest of my cards and see the handwriting of other family members, some no longer with us, of friends, some I haven’t seen in decades because we live so far apart and I smile. Some of the cards are handmade - a present in and of themselves - and I treasure them even more because it’s a talent I don’t possess. So many wonderful memories flooding back. Bittersweet mixed with joy. 

But this year it’s dawned on me how badly I’ve taken care of my cards. I’ve allowed the box to get way over stuffed. Cards and envelopes have become separated. I’ve stored the ribbon I hang my cards from in the box and some of the paper is bending to the stress on the ornaments. 



So this year I’m making a plan to clean it up. 
  1. Separate the cards that are just decor from the sentimental. 
  2. Reduce the number of decor cards. I have way more than I need to decorate and it’s time to make room for new ones. 
  3. Measure the size of my sentimental cards and order an archival box with some space to grow. 

I’m going to give myself some time for this project because I know I’ll be a little slow when it comes to the sentimental cards because I’ll likely want to read them all. But even then I think it shouldn’t take me more than a couple of hours. 

And that time will be so worth it to know that the cards from my parents, my grandparents, my sister, and Ryan’s parents and grandparents are safe, protected, and ready to be passed on to our daughters.


Popular posts from this blog

Updating and Organizing

Since changing jobs I've gotten behind on posting my presentation handouts and updating my CV.  So I've spent the evening updating my CV, my Linked In profile, my website, and my slideshare account.  I'm not finished yet, but I should be in the next few days. Whew, I do not recommend getting this far behind in keeping your online information current!
Read more

Guided Access - Can It Aid in Device Management? – Part 2

In my last post I covered how Guided Access is being used to help us manage the iPads in our Reflection Areas. This time I want to share how Guided Access has worked on our iPod touches. The museum has 80 4th generation iPod Touches with our iOS app installed available for guests to check out. These are free thanks to the generous sponsorship of Cox Communications. After talking to colleagues at other institutions about their experiences, and trying out several alternatives, the decision was made to use iPod cases that do not cover the Home button. Even though covering the Home button could have helped control the devices, the benefits of allowing staff and knowledgeable users to easily service devices when needed seemed to outweigh the potential costs of leaving the Home button accessible. To conserve battery life and prevent new content from being installed on the iPods, we decided to use Apple's iPhone Configuration Utility to create a configuration profile to block access to ce...
Read more

What's in My Toolbox?

I often get asked about what supplies I keep on hand at my own house for helping me organize and care for historical objects. I’ll confess I’ve not been the best at keeping them organized but I’ve recently been inspired to get my tools more organized. But I’ll share with you some of my top tools and you might be surprised at how many you might already have too. A #2 mechanical pencil - We try to do no harm to what we’re taking care of and that also means that the majority of things we do needs to be reversible. Hence pencil not ink. I prefer #2 pencils because they tend not to smudge. A gum eraser - Mistakes happen. I prefer gum erasers because they are softer and tend to cause less damage. The last thing you want to do is rub a whole in your photo or document while you are trying to erase something. But they are messy so be prepared for that with brushes, a trash can and a handy vac. pH testing pe...
Read more