I am ashamed to say that we are just now taking Christmas down and putting it away. I would like to blame it on the “short Christmas season” or that my husband and I fell victim to the flu, but honestly, I’m tired and it’s a lot of work! Also, I love everything Christmas and it makes me sad to put our decorations away.
By far, my favorite Christmas decorations are the hundreds of Christmas cards we have received over the years. Each year, I punch a hole in each card and put them all on little silver rings, to be unpacked the following December and enjoyed by every member of our family. We can track cousins who have moved all over the country, children growing into small adults from families we met while our kids were in preschool, other family friends and their children’s college announcements, a glimpse of business colleagues and their prized possessions, or just simple (sometimes homemade) Christmas greeting cards from grandparents. These are Christmas treasures! The kids and I flip through them every December. It’s such a fantastic way to remember the precious baby faces, weddings, or other announcements.
Some people have actually used these as a prayer reminder for their families. They pick a card from the Christmas before and pray specifically for that family. I have aspirations of this being my family, but quite honestly as sweet as that idea is, I can’t remember to use our cards this way! (Not that we don’t pray for our friends, we do—it’s just not that organized!)
Do you love Christmas cards as much as I do? Do you keep them and go back to them year after year?