How to Choose the Perfect Card for When We Must Be Together In Spirit
Only around 30% of people in the US live near “all or most” of their extended family. Moving around for school or work is common, and it means a lot of us end up with hard choices to make when the holidays come around. If you are in a partnership, that means you have to balance between two sets of friends and relations when you’re making plans. Throw a pandemic and a recession into the mix, and I’m guessing that a lot of us are going to have people we’re missing this season.
Here are our picks for a simple, quick way to make a meaningful connection by sending a letterpress card through the mail. When it slips out from the stack of catalogs, photo cards addressed by excel files, and bills, a hand-addressed envelope with a note inside will be like a bright burst of crimson cranberry sauce on a plate full of browns and tans (which are usually more tasty than bills…but let’s not take the metaphor too literally). You can find the whole collection here.
When Food is Your Love Language
If the pumpkin pie just won’t taste the same when your Aunt hasn’t made it, tell her with a card! Food is where many of us find common ground and where so many of our holiday memories are stored in our brains and bodies, and seeing a card like one of these on the mantel might even make those holiday!
When Drinks Will Be Served
Whether it’s mulled wine or eggnog, spiced cider or Uncle Kevin’s famous martinis, festive libations are part of many of our holiday traditions. If the person you’d like to clink glasses will be too far away to toast in person, you can do it with one of these cards instead. And they won’t have any trouble remembering what you said!
When All You Want For Christmas Is a Hug
Sometimes you don’t need the gift of gab to feel connected. Put your arms around them with a simple note that just says, “here’s the hug I’ve been saving for you. I’m getting another one ready for when we finally get to be in the same place.”
When It's Just Been Too Long
Some friendships have that magic quality where as soon as you’re together again, it seems like no time has passed. In between, it helps to bridge the distance with a message that says, “it goes without saying but we miss you, can’t wait to catch up in person when the fates allow.”
When Hearts are Heavy
If someone in your life has had a rough year, the holidays might be looming like a dark cloud instead of a bright season of light. Getting one of these in the mail might make all the fa-la-la-ing a little easier to bear, knowing their sorrow is not going unnoticed. “We’re sharing your sorrow and sending you love, hoping you’ll find some moments of comfort in a rough season” would probably fall on welcome ears if loss is part of this year’s holiday experience.