This time of year is marked by the advent of the traditional and stereotypical holiday letter, wherein families take the opportunity to share their successes, travels, and extravagances with the world. I’ve never been a fan of these letters, but this year my mom, brother, and I decided to construct an easily customized letter of our own. (View blank letter as a PDF.)

 

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!
(2007)

 

Dear Friends / Family,

It’s that time of year again! What a wonderful year it has been for all of us. The whole family has had a great year, full of memories and adventure. Where should we begin to recount how very blessed we have been? We have never done a Christmas letter before, but fortunately there are letter-writing tools available for people like us.

To start off, ______Deb___________ has been very involved in:
     ___ the mafia as a money launderer
     ___ restoring peace to Iraq
     _X_ starting a homeless shelter for abandoned and battered cats
     _X_ playing extreme Scrabble
     ___ empathizing with the warming globe
     _X_ scratch and sniff lottery, but not for the money

Meanwhile, in ___Pennsylvania_____, ______Jacob_________ has been pursing:
     ___ world conquest
     ___ perfecting sleek and discreet flossing technique
     _X_ an enriching career in hydrotherapy
     _X_ rehabilitation of glue-sniffing ants
     ___ moderate success in minimal endeavors occasionally
     ___ study at the Palestinian glass-blowing institute

And last, but certainly not least, _______Luke_________ has enjoyed living in _Scotland & Minnesota_ while succeeding in:
     _X_ teaching mute people how to walk
     ___ further developing fungus taxonomy
     _X_ acquiring a wide variety of superpowers including, but not limited to:
          ___ infrared vision
          ___ super strength
          ___ the ability to melt
          _X_ an uncanny ability to talk to fish, although they don’t usually talk
                 back
     ___ continued development of Opti-Grab™ technology
     ___ being macho
     _X_ selling glue to ants

In short, we could not have possibly asked for a better year. Some people wish for a perfect life; we lived it, and we are so blessed. We could go on, but we are sure your lives are so much fuller than ours—and so busy too. We only wish that we could have shared each special moment with every one of you.

Sincerely / Love / Affectionately / Yours,

_______Deb__________     _______Jacob________     _______Luke_________