The Real Value of Photo Christmas Cards
I remember a Christmas photo cards that my parents sent of my brother Gary and myself when we were little children. We lived in a modest ranch-style home in Oklahoma in the late ‘50s. I must have been eight years old. Mom put a red flannel shirt on Gary and slicked back his brown hair. I wore a proper black velvet top with a white-pleated skirt. Mom put those embarrassing little pin-curls in my hair. Finally, Dad sat us in front of the stone fireplace and I beamed because I was allowed to hold my new puppy for our photograph. Fifty years have gone by, and I still remember that family photo Christmas card.
Today I have dear friends in California but I live on the opposite coast in New Jersey. I deeply miss being a part of their family celebrations and I wonder how they are doing. They remembered to send me a photo greeting card for the Holidays this year. It warmed my heart to see how their sparkling blonde-headed girls had grown and how happy they were as a family. Their colorful digital photography of a recent family hiking trip to the Sierra Nevada brought home the message. There they were: Jim, Betty, Rachel and Rebecca in all their glory with the bright California sunshine reflecting off the background of snow-capped mountains.
For a secret moment I relished being a part of their lives. I sensed I was no longer one of those forgotten friends that lived “back East.” It warmed my heart to be included so personally in their thoughts. You see…the card was the gift I received. And I felt joy to be with them in spirit once again. If you happen to wonder why, it’s simple, really; they took the time to share.
When someone mails me a photo greeting card I know they care. There is a timelessness to it. A photograph imprints in my mind like nothing else can.
This post was written by Gloria B.
Tags: christmas photo cards
August 15th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Old family Christmas photo cards are a treat, I agree. Just to see our hairstyles from years ago is worth the trip down memory lane. When I come across the few family greeting cards from when I was a child, they evoke such visions (My Little Ponies! Barbie’s Townhouse! A “Janine” action figure I now know was a ploy to get my brother and I to play together with his Ghostbusters set!). I wish we’d done more of them, so I try to send one every year with photos of my kids, with or without my husband and myself. I save all photo cards I get from friends or relatives, near and far. You never know when you’ll need to remind them of that mullet, mohawk, or side ponytail in a scrunchy.