Tips for Crafting a Christmas Letter

that people will read and enjoy

CHRISTMAS LETTERS….

Those letters that are often tucked into Christmas cards —

Some people love them. Other people laugh at them.

My earliest memories of the letters were of the ones my parents received each year. They looked forward to the cards and the news they contained.

As they unfolded and read the letters, they shared the news with interest between each other.

Except for two of the letters…. My parents groaned when they saw the return addresses on these cards and announced to the other that one of the “Brag Letters” had arrived.

They read these letters quietly and, as I got a bit older, I also read them to learn what was so offensive about them. These letters were long (usually at least two pages) and listed the accomplishments of the writer’s truly outstanding children and family members and the exotic trips they had enjoyed over the year in a tone that assured the reader that nothing in their lives had been less than perfect.

My parents’ reactions to these letters shaped my behavior forever.

Sending Christmas cards and including a letter can be a great way to maintain connection with people we don’t want to lose touch…