Thumper Thinks Out Loud

Holiday letters—the kind people sometimes stick inside of their Christmas cards—are one of those things people either love or hate. I’m one of those people who actually likes getting them; I like the honest, personal letters, especially from people I keep in touch with, and I even like the over the top, grossly exaggerating life-is-so-wonderful letters. Some are good for their comical value, some just let me know what my friends have been up to (and face it, we all have friends we haven’t exactly kept in touch with, but we’re still interested in them and care about how things are going) and some are barf-worthy, but those hold entertainment value.

I think we’ve only done the holiday letter thing once or twice. The only year I clearly remember doing it was 2002, when we had a lot to tell people but the year had been very stressful (brain tumor, surgery, cross country move, etc) and a lot of people who should have been in the loop were unfortunately kept on the outer fringe simply because of time and health constraints.

So, having done one, I can’t complain about them. I don’t think I would, simply because I like them … but this year we only got one. And that kinda depresses me. The one we got was via email, but that was perfectly okay considering the senders were just getting ready to make a huge move to a Very Far Away Place and it just made the most sense. But still…only one.

I can’t complain about that, either, since we didn’t even send out Christmas cards this year. But the cat…well, the cat has had a lot to say this year (shut up! He has!) so to that I give you: