To be sure. Long-winded is tiresome even if it is the Obamas. And the more minor the triumphs the more that’s true.
Says the guy with a bad extreme case of logorrhea.
I’ve been pondering what makes my mom’s missives more interesting than the average “what did you do last summer” bullet list, and I think it’s that she writes an actual letter. Talking about her feelings about the year, how different events effected her emotionally, and so on. This year she talked a whole lot about covid, the existence of which probably wasn’t news to anyone, but her talking about how it personally impacted her and how she and the rest of us dealt with it was reasonably engaging.
She could have done with a copy-editor though. There were a few too many typos this year.
Glad it works for you and your mom.
Given the range of family, friends, etc my wife and I send cards to, I’d find it challenging to express my feelings and emotions at any length in a manner that would be interesting to - or even appropriate for all addressees.
My wife and I are both lawyers - she teaches college, I’m a judge. We’re pretty careful about proofing our letter. And editing for brevity and clarity is pretty basic nature to us.
I’m 50. I love sending cards, and I love receiving cards - as long as they contain at least one photo and/or a letter. I don’t see the point of a store-bought, blank card with just "Love Uncle [whatever] and Aunt [whatever] written inside.
Probably starting when we had a kid, so for 20 years, we’ve sent about 80 cards and received about 50 each year. Ours are always personalized and printed (this year we used Vistaprint) and include a photo, and I include a one-page, 14-point letter. Last year I didn’t send a card because my dad had died in May and I didn’t know how to mention it or not mention it in my letter. I’m back on track this year.
This made me laugh out loud:
I just counted. We’re only sending 11 this year, whereas it used to be around 30. When I was a kid, my Mom used to send 75 or so.