How to Write a Christmas Letter

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Do you still send Christmas cards each year? For the last 35 years, I have either sent cards or attempted to send cards. By attempting to send cards, that means that I have pulled the cards out of the closet and thought about writing them. Out of 35 years, I think I have sent cards thirty of those years. Many of those years, clients received Christmas cards also. A Christmas letter was only included a couple of years and that was only because my son wrote those letters. I decided to try my hand at this letter writing, and now I am sharing how to write a Christmas letter with you.

You see, unless you just want your Christmas letter to read, “We did…” or “We went…” or “We saw…” and have your letter sound like you are bragging about your perfect life, Christmas letters are hard to write. In my usual fashion, I tend to want to include some of the bad along with the good. But how do you write a letter that says, “My husband’s job sucked this year,” or “money is so bad that we have considered bankruptcy.” Merry Christmas!

Additionally, virtually no Christmas letters I have received include divorce, death, job loss or news of your child flunking all of their tests. So how, in the midst of bad news, do you craft a Christmas letter full of cheer and blessings?

Very carefully! First, remember that humor and gaiety go a long way to making you feel like life isn’t that bad. Next, think back over the past year to all the good things that happened. Really, there were good things. Did you go on a trip? Did the kids get an award? It doesn’t matter if the award was given to everyone in the class; your relatives and friends don’t know that. Is there a way to turn even the worst of years into fun for everyone?

HOW TO WRITE A CHRISTMAS LETTER:

1. Start with a Greeting – Merry Christmas or Season’s Greetings at the top is okay, but remember to make it sound like your voice.
2. Write in a speaking tone. How do you usually talk? Will the recipient of the letter say, “I felt like he/she was talking to me?”
3. Mix humor in your letter.
4. Include the highlights of your year, but don’t write more than one page.
5. Include a photo or two
6. Do not send the same letter year after year. Having the letter written from your pet is fun, but don’t overdo it. After year 30, nobody is going to believe your pet is still alive!
7. Don’t think you have to send one letter to everyone. You might consider personalizing it for a special cousin or friend.
8. End with a blessing or word of encouragement.

IDEAS FOR HOW TO WRITE A CHRISTMAS LETTER

Select your favorite movie and pick out a few lines to incorporate into the letter. I actually selected some lines from multiple movies and this year and then I put out a challenge to find the movie lines/references. You can even offer a prize for the first person to respond with the movie lines/references.

Favorite Christmas Songs – Interspersed throughout your letter use favorite Christmas songlines. This will be difficult to keep in the flow of the letter but it will be fun for the recipients of your letter.

Select one word and try to work it into your letter without it seeming too odd. In fact, you can do this along with a friend. They pick your word and you pick their word.

Make a top 10 list – maybe your list of top events from the year or even your top 10 Netflix/Disney+ shows from year. If you are a movie buff who sees new movies often consider a list of your top movies. Maybe a list of your favorites – favorite book, movie, kitchen appliance, activity, restaurant, and new food you tried.

OUR CHRISTMAS LETTER

This year was one of the worst years we have had for quite a long time. Nothing great happened, and in many ways, bad news was followed by more bad news. It was hard for our entire family to maintain a joy-filled and positive attitude for much of the year, but we still gave glory to God. We know greater things are on the horizon, and there is a lot of growth and learning in the valley.

How to Craft an Interesting Christmas Letter in spite of bad times: You might want to adopt a style and use it year after year, or you might prefer to change it up each and every year! You get to be the one that decides what to do with your Christmas Letter! 

Merry Christmas

Greetings Friends and Family:

This year was another banner year in the Moliterno household full of ups and downs!

In April, Patty was invited to Branson for a blogging event, so in what can only be considered a whirlwind trip, Jeff and Patty drove to Branson, spent 3 days there, and drove home. Jeff acquired food poisoning at the beginning of the trip. We stopped in a coffee shop an hour outside of Branson, and when Jeff was done eating, he immediately said, “That didn’t sit right.” The food poisoning hit when we drove into town. He spent much of the trip visiting Branson’s best bathrooms.

Jeff & Patty celebrated 35 years of wedded bliss. To celebrate, first, we made snow angels for two hours, and then we went ice skating, then we ate a whole roll of Tollhouse Cookie Dough as fast as we could, and then we snuggled.

Jeff has continued working for Mr. Potter who demands the utmost respect while working for 50 cents on the dollar. Jeff’s entire department, which after the downsizing, now consists of 3 people. Jeff works with “Me, Myself and I.”

Patty in her usual fashion worked day after day remaking the old Moliterno house into a home. She continues to blog about random crap that shockingly more and more people have been reading.

Patty, Marcus, and Douglas took Patty’s mom to Washington, D.C. to celebrate her 90th birthday because at ninety everyone should walk around the streets of a big city. The highlight of the trip was being caught in a deluge of Biblical proportion near the Washington Monument. I can assure you that there was no singing in the rain that day.

Melissa announced that she was shakin’ the dust of this crummy little town off her feet and she was gonna see the world! She celebrated the New Year in Kansas City, MO. She also went to DC over Memorial Day, and then she visited China and Thailand in June. In October she went to Canada, and finally early December she explored Amish country.

Melissa continues to photograph the high falutin folks of the Youngstown area. She gave up her barista job due to the demands of the studio.

Marcus won’t give up his dream of a White Christmas. In fact, he claims that when the temperature goes up, he starts to melt. He has secured his driver’s permit and reluctantly attempts to navigate the backroads of Canfield. He also is a member of the 2019 Mahoning County 4-H Royal Court and will be on the Canfield Fair Junior Fair Board.

Douglas has been accepted as the first honorary member of the Junior Fair Board for next year. He will be delighting fairgoers with his movie lines, hugs, and smiles. In fact, he often announces, “I just like to smile. Smiling’s my favorite.”

Most Monday nights, you can find Marcus and Jeff entertaining audiences around the world via Facebook Live on their Facebook Channel – WDWPov. Make sure to follow along and hear the latest Disney news and antics of this father and son duo.

Patty and Douglas enchant a different type of audience on their show entitled Adventures with Jack-Jack. This live, unscripted show features movie lines, face painting, faces, laughter and tears as Douglas navigates autism in a live environment. Our tagline is Expect the Unexpected. Our Facebook page is A Mother’s Random Thoughts.

Finally, Merry Christmas! Remember, no man is a failure who has friends!

PS – Interspersed in this letter are references from famous movies – Find the 10 references just for the fun of it!