Keep Those Holiday Photo Cards Coming

CELEBRATIONS | by KAVITA VARMA-WHITE

ONE OF MY GREATEST JOYS DURING HOLIDAY SEASON is going outside to check my mailbox. Because for a few weeks during December, I actually get personal mail ― in the form of holiday photo cards from friends who live near and far.

© JANNA LUFKIN

There’s nothing like ripping open the envelopes to see the faces of so many sweet, smiling kids, all dressed in their finest holiday duds. Having lived in eight different cities, I have friends scattered all over, and have watched many of their kids grow up through the annual Christmas card, just as they have done with my own kids. (I have an alphabetized binder where I keep all the photos. So, for example, I can go into the “V” folder and see all the Vogel family pics from past years.)

But this year, I worry.  Will the ubiquity of Facebook change the way we experience holiday cards?

Will people post their kids’ holiday picture on Facebook with the status update: “Here’s the kids’ picture this year. Enjoy.”?  It’s still recessionary times, after all. What better way to save than by not shelling out money for stamps and sending photos electronically?

To that, my status update is: “Bah hum bug.”

As an active Facebooker, I love the way it lets me communicate with far-away-friends.  I love to click through their pages and view their albums.

But I really, really want old-fashioned photo cards that come to me via snail mail. I want to display them in my Santa-themed card holder so visitors to my home can enjoy them, too.

When the cards are filed away Jan. 1, I’ll log back onto Facebook.