The One Hundred Day Creative Challenge: Day 24
A Writer’s Christmas Eve
Out of all the Christmas traditions we could possibly have, my writer’s heart loves this one. Tracy writes a letter to her son every Christmas Eve, places it in a hand-decorated box and hangs it on the tree. Love it!
I’m the sort of mum who often writes letters to her children to express things that are often hard to express in the spoken word. I also mark occasions with cards and can never just write, ‘Love from …’ in them.
In the last year my daughter left home so I wrote her a 3000 word letter summarising her life so far and how I felt about her leaving the nest. I cut the letter up into paragraphs, found a leather-bound journal, printed some photos and collected some stickers. I then scrapbooked the letter into the journal and made a little book.
My artistic skills are that of a pre-schooler so it was pretty funny. I threw glue and glitter all over it to cover up the rough and ready layout.
I posted it to her in the mail and she proudly displayed it on her coffee table for all the world to see.
In November, my son left home to get married so I wrote him a 3000-word letter too. His was presented in a photo album that also had scrapbook pages for text. I didn’t bother with the glitter and stickers as he tends to be more of a minimalist.
The day before the wedding I wrote a letter to my future daughter-in-law welcoming her to the family and telling her how much she has blessed our family. I was a bit busy so her letter was only 500 words long and presented in a glossy envelope rather than in a book with photos and art and craft.
My husband gave me thirty cards for our anniversary this year. Each one chosen with care and written in with love. He gave me twenty cards for our twentieth. I’m really looking forward to the fortieth!
Perhaps we’re building a tradition of words.
Today is Christmas Eve and I’m thinking that I might just make a little box for each member of the family, write a note to each one and hang it on the tree. A word of encouragement, a thank you, an expression of love. (I haven’t got time for 3000-word letters today!)
All the presents in the world don’t mean a thing unless they’re given and received in love.
Two thousand years ago God—The Word came in to the world to love the world.
Happy Creative Christmas!
