Christmas cards

I wrote out my Christmas cards this weekend. Though I am unmarried, basically living as a family of one, and considered somewhat unusual that a "bachelor" would even send out Christmas cards, this is not for me a solitary activity. My good friend Bill and I have for some time been getting together and writing our Christmas cards at the same time. And the phrase "for some time" translates into twenty years. We began this tradition in 1986, so this year was our twentieth year of doing it together. When we started, we were both divorced men in our mid- to late-20s. The reason for getting together was to get through this task in a more pleasant and less lonely atmosphere. At least, that's how we remember it today. As the years passed, our lives changed in many ways, his probably moreso than mine. A few years after we started our tradition, Bill remarried and started a new family with three delightful children. One of the advantages of the Christmas card writing party these days is that while we write out cards, Bill's wife Judy bakes Christmas cookies with which we stuff ourselves. (I must've eaten a dozen at least Friday night.) It's a time-honored tradition and one which I look forward to every December. There are others who join us at times, and Bill's family is of course around now (his oldest son Louie has been writing his own cards the last couple of years), but it all started with just the two of us, sitting around, writing out and addressing cards, and just enjoying each other's company.