About 10 years or so ago, my dear friend Louise gave me a Christmas card with the following words on the front:
This Christmas...Mend a quarrel, Seek out a forgotten friend, Share some treasure, Give a soft answer, Encourage youth, Keep a promise, Find the time,
Listen,
Apologize if you were wrong,
Be gentle, Laugh a little, Laugh a little more,
Express your gratitude, Welcome a stranger,
Gladden the heart of a child,
Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth,
Speak your love,
Speak it again,
Speak it still once more.
----
I have saved that card all these years. You could tell it wasn't the kind of card you buy in a pack of 25 at the Sav-Ons. It was a Hallmark card she picked just for me. I loved the saying so much that I have copied it and used it in my own greetings. Christmas Cards are fun...and stressful. I remember when I was a newlywed, the tradition of sending Holiday Greeting cards began. Ah, the Christmas Card list! I would tape the cards up on the wall and look at them as prizes! It was so cool when I could cover a large section of my apartment wall. I haven't hung up Christmas Cards on my wall in a long time. Now-a-days, they just get tossed in a box, then tossed at the end of the season (after checking for address corrections of course). Maybe this year I will read them more carefully and then hang them on the wall again, and enjoy them more than ever!
