#CHRISTMAS LETTERS

[absinthhe]

Oh, you Americans that find info about the past sooo easily.

1. Garland Ironmonger is the best name I’ve ever seen.

2. I looked Mr. Ironmonger up and it turns out he grew up to be an honest to god fighter pilot.

3. COLONEL Ironmonger flew F-86 Sabres.

4. Garland Ironmonger: Sabrejet Pilot sounds like something straight out of a bad 70s sci-fi novel that I would totally read.

(source: The Newport News Daily Press, December 15, 1936.)

[chetungwan]

I've been real busy lately because it's December and I work at the post office, so of course I am

But that doesn't mean I can't show up with an unprompted PSA

Hey! Have you ever mailed a letter to Santa Claus? Have you ever wondered what exactly happened to that letter? Well wonder no longer! If it had a stamp and a return address, then odds are that it ended up on the USPS's Operation Santa page!

Every year, the USPS collects letters to Santa Claus, and processes them to black out any identifying information. Last names, addresses, things like that. Then, the letters are posted on the Operation Santa webpage and people can adopt the letters.

Once you adopt a letter, you can buy gifts for them, wrap them up, and package them. Then you get a barcode from the website, and bring them to a post office. The clerk there will scan the barcode, which prints out a label with the address on it, and sends out the gift.

It's anonymous on both ends, and is generally just. A really nice thing to do.

I highly recommend it if you have some money to spare this year and want to give a kid a moment of magic this year

It's one of those things that the post office just happened to be positioned to do, and ended up knocking it out of the park. Unfortunately, I don't think they advertise this nearly well enough, and most letters end up going unanswered

Hopefully, a few more will be answered this year

[nkp1981]

Children From Red Lion Street School Lined Up To Send Letters To Santa Claus In England, 1926.

[dragon-kazansky]

It's that time of year again!

You find a letter with your name on it. It is written in familiar hand writing. You smile as you open the envelope and take out the neatly folded letter.

♡♡♡

How it works:

You send in an ask with the name of the character you want a letter from

You give me a name to use for you. This it make them more personal.

You can specify what you may want them to say.

You are permitted to request more than one, but I ask that you send each letter request separately.

No more than 3 requests per person.

All letters will be posted December 24th.

♡♡♡

If you do not celebrate Christmas, don't worry! You can send in ask and we can celebrate your year regardless. Just tell me of the wonderful things you've been up to, I'm sure your chosen characters will love to hear about them!

[enbyhyena]

11:59 post before Christmas is technically over

Behold the letter I got with my presents this year

[stonelovesbeer]

[thepastisalreadywritten]

[newjeansador]

NEWJEANS - ig story update 📸

[lavandamichelle]

Heartwarming Christmas Letters and Messages for Children

The magic of Christmas is something special for children. From decorating the tree to waiting for Santa Claus, it’s a season full of excitement and wonder. As we celebrate this joyful time, it’s the perfect moment to send a little extra love to the children in our lives. A Christmas message or letter filled with warmth, cheer, and joy will help make their holiday season even more…

[thedaveandkimmershow]

During the weekend before the weekend before Christmas...

We finished the 1984 Horror/Comedy/Christmas classic film  Gremlins. We started the more proper, on-the-nose  Christmas film, Family Man, starting Téa Leoni, Nicolas Cage, Don Cheadle,  and Jeremy. It's a glimpse at an alternate version of the Nicolas Cage character's life. And every year I find the story compelling as hell.

Somewhere in there during the weekend, we continued the Tim Curry-read version of A Christmas Carol. I think we made it through to the Ghost of Christmas Past and Scrooge revisiting one of his old school rooms.

I also finished our family Christmas letter over the weekend. Read it to Kimmer who had 2 notes for my consideration that were easy to incorporate.

With the final version in place, I pass the final tweaks along to the Dutch version of the letter and BAM. Both English and Dutch versions are now done so the process can finally, officially start. I  gather up all the cards 'n envelopes, stamps, address labels, return address labels, and Christmas seals (stickers). Then I start hand-writing the cards to my family in The Netherlands 'cause those cards should definitely be the first ones on their way out the door. For my cousins, it's English all the way but I keep the language declarative, the sentence structures simple. For my aunts and uncle, I do the same thing but then run the text through a translator, check the resulting translation with another translator, then leave this double-checked translation up on my desktop screen while I carefully transfer the official text onto our Christmas cards by hand. Legible enough so my third grade teacher, Mrs. Lohse, would've been proud. ☺️

Monday morning, first thing, I'm at Kinkos printing all the letters then assembling the cards/envelopes/carefully folded Christmas letters/stamps/address labels/return address labels/Christmas seals bound for Holland.

Right off the bat?

Ten cards done and on their way.

To keep the workload reasonable, I have another ten out the door each day of the workweek 'til Thursday. Then BAM. Done.

2024 Christmas cards 'n letters all on their way! 😁

On Monday the 16th, we jump from The Family Man to Last Christmas 'cause Family Man had got to the intense parts and we were really just down for happy cute sweet Christmas vibes with which to end the day.

We finished the movie the next night and, after the first two movie credits following the final scene, Prime Video decided it was time for us to watch Me Before You that also stars Emilia Clarke.

Not a Christmas movie, though. Not on the list of movies we have in mind for the Christmas season.

Yeah.

We watched half of Me Before You on the spot.

Okay so now a word about things we started that, so far, we left dangling. 

For example, Tim Curry's still waiting for us to rejoin he, Scrooge, and the Ghost of Christmas Past in an old school room. The Family Man is still paused in an uncomfortable moment. And I don't know when we're coming back to Me Before You.

Why?

Because Wednesday night we watched A Muppet Christmas Carol featuring one of the best screen adaptations and perhaps the best Ebenezer Scrooge performance...

Ever.

The next night, Thursday night, we start into The Man Who Saved Christmas. It's a fictionalized story of Charles Dickens' experience writing A Christmas Carol. Another one of those films with compelling story and performances. 

We got as far as the part where Dickens is just getting to know this character in person that he only recently conjured from thin air.

This month, we managed low-key shopping experiences. Not a mad dash. Nothing to cause us wanting or needing to pull our hair out. We started early with what I like to call benign shopping. Sort of looking around with the option to buy because there's no emergency here and we've got enough Christmas shopping under our belts that we're always able to avoid emergency Christmas shopping.

Thank God.

Ours, by the way, is a mix of online and brick 'n mortar shopping. The brick 'n mortar shopping, by the way, was only intense on Black Friday and the Black Friday weekend during the day. After that the browsing and/or purchasing was a pretty chill experience.

Right now, then, I've only two gifts left to  left that I want Santa to deliver Kimmer's way. I've got all the presents for under the tree (not wrapped yet), all the stocking stuffers, the one present for her to open Christmas Eve, and even a Christmas card for my lovely wife because, heck, I basically wrote to everyone else in our lives.

So yeah.

It really, really helps to be able to focus like that.

Kimmer, on the other hand, is doing the same for me as well as the same for everyone else in our lives on Santa's Nice list as well as co-planning and cooking for a Christmas potluck tomorrow night as well as making plans for my birthday.

While she's actively pursuing her doctoral studies.

So that's probably more impressive.

🤔🤔🤔

[dwuerch-blog]

Lord, Make Me a Ponderer!

Picture this: I’m wrapped in the warm twinkle of our Christmas trees, surrounded by tiny village churches, my mom’s beloved ceramic tree with its colorful little bulbs, and my cherished Nativity sets. The air is filled with the sweet aroma of Maple Sugar Scentsy wax melts, and everything feels just right. I am pondering. And what better time to ponder than during Advent and Christmas, when our…

[absinthhe]

A very happy christmas, Robert. Wherever you are. ♡

Robert Moss was diagnosed with polio at the age of six, the year before he wrote this letter. He would spend the next nine years of his childhood in and out of hospitals.

He made a full recovery and was a decorated athlete in High School and College, as well as an Eagle Scout. After college, he became a junior high science teacher, while also coaching football, basketball and track.

During summer break from teaching in 1965, his childhood struggle with polio inspired him to spend the summer working at the Louisiana Lions Camp for Crippled Children. He went back the next summer and was hired as camp director.

Robert was the Executive Director of the Lions Camp for 41 years. Over his tenure he expanded the camp to include programs for children with pulmonary disorders, muscular dystrophy, diabetes and autism.

He assisted in programs to set up similar camps in Puerto Rico and Australia, as well as a camp for children with terminal illnesses in Texas.

The Lions Camp still operates and is 100% free of charge for all attendees.

(source: The Minden Herald, December 19, 1941.)

[dream9aze]

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[24annarino]

CHRISTMAS LETTER

                          MERRY CHRISTMAS   The Christmas Letter 2024 This year I am compelled to ask a question similar to that asked by the youngest child at the Jewish Passover Seder: “Why is this Christmas (night) different from all other Christmases (nights)?” It feels different, more significant, more laden with meaning. It calls for more introspection and reflection. Too many mornings I…

[dragon-kazansky]

A Christmas letter from Baron Helmut Zemo

For: Janine

Dearest Janine,

Hello dear. It's Christmas time and unfortunately we are not together. At least, I'm sure that's what you're thinking. Know that as you're reading this, I am making my way to you now. It wouldn't feel right to spend the holidays apart.

I miss you every day. I do not deserve someone so patient and kind as you. Someone who waits for me day in and day out. I am so grateful to have you in my life, dearest.

I shall be with you soon, my love. Merry Christmas.

Helmut

[alexesguerra]

Season's Greetings: Christmas Letters from Those Who Were There Season's Greetings: Christmas Letters from Those Who Were There Contributor(s): Boling, Ruth (Author) Publisher: Upper Room Books ISBN: 0835820440 Physical Info: 0.32" H x 8.43" L x 5.43" W (0.4 lbs) 144 pages "Be prepared in this book to meet the people of the biblical Christmas story in ways you have never encountered them before. Through the literary gifts of Ruth Boling, one of our most imaginative and faithful writers, Zechariah, Joseph, Mary, the Bethlehem Innkeeper, and others step forward from the pages of scripture and speak directly to our lives, our minds, and our hearts. This volume will allow the hope of Christmas to shine even brighter." -Thomas G. Long, Professor Emeritus of Preaching, Candler School of Theology "Take a look at your nativity scene and imagine all the characters coming alive and speaking to you. Ruth Boling creatively invites you into Christmas in a new way with letters from those present at Jesus' birth written to readers today. If you are looking for a contemplative way to engage the familiar in refreshing new ways, this book is for you." -Rev . Dr. Elizabeth Caldwell (she/hers), Professor Emerita of Pastoral Theology, McCormick Theological Seminary "It's been a very long time since I have read a book that has so moved me with the full wonder and beauty, challenge and mystery of Christmas. These imagined letters take us deep into the heart of Scripture but ever deeper into the heart of God's love. This book will open your eyes. It will change you. Boling imagines Mary inviting us to 'give Christmas your full consent. Allow the God who came at Christmas to come to you, delight you, and meddle with your life.' I can't think of a better way to do that than to spend time with this lovely book." -L. Roger Owens, Hugh Thomson Kerr Professor of Pastoral Theology, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and author of Everyday Contemplative: The Way of Prayerful Living "Ruth Boling brings together critical biblical interpretation and creative writing to create a lens through which to see the story of Christmas in a new light. Each chapter features a letter from a biblical character, followed by thoughtful questions, journal prompts, and prayers that help us to reflect more deeply on the meaning of Christmas. This book is intelligent and imaginative, inspired and invitational, insightful and incarnational. What a gift to help us prepare our hearts for the advent of Immanuel." -Donna Giver-Johnston, Professor and Director of the Doctor of Ministry program, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Imagine opening your mailbox to find a bundle of Christmas letters addressed to you from long-ago Bible characters who were there for the birth of Jesus. Mary. Joseph. The innkeeper. A shepherd. The midwife. King Herod. The Magi. How do each of these writers remember the unfolding story? What did they know? When did they know it? How did it change them? In Season's Greetings, twelve vividly imagined letters from "those who were there" speak to the many meanings of Christmas. Awe. Wonder. Disruption. Scandal. Hope. Collected together, the letters invite you-the reader-to add your voice to the conversation, to put Christmas into your own words. Scripture texts, companion prayers, reflection questions and journaling prompts accompanying each letter lend themselves to individual or group study. Whether you love Christmas or dread it, whether you are a believer or a skeptic, the letters in Season's Greetings will speak to you. This Advent devotional delivers straight talk with honesty, intellectual rigor and a touch of humor, allowing you to hear with new ears the old, old story that changed-and is changing-the world. Season's Greetings also includes an Afterword for Clergy and Church Leaders offering creative ideas for using the book in various ministry contexts, as well as a Small Group Leader's Guide.