I love Christmas cards! I enjoy receiving them and I usually enjoy sending them (as long as I have the time). Before having Savannah, I used to send out a little family newsletter along with our card. I hope to get back to that at some point.
Last year I didn’t even get a Christmas card out since I was still far too sleep deprived to even care. We opted for a Happy New Year/birth announcement card instead. And this year, time just got away from me, so I was grateful just to get the card in the mail before Christmas.
We’ve celebrated 3 Christmas’s with our Andrew in heaven and while you’d think I’d have the whole Christmas card thing figured out by now, I don’t.
The first year, it was a given that we had to include his picture on the card. The grief was still so raw that I just couldn’t not include him on the card. I also included him in the closing. If I remember correctly, I think I said something like,
When it came time for this year’s card, I wasn’t quite sure what to do at first. We still miss him dearly and grieve his absence from our earthly family, but our family has grown so I wasn’t sure how to handle it. After thinking about it for a few minutes, I just went with my heart. Here’s how it turned out.
As you can see, I again opted to include Andrew in the closing on the card. If you are having trouble seeing it, it reads,
It may be weird to some people, but I honestly don’t care at this point – I don’t mean that come across as harsh or rude at all either. I’m just starting to care less and less about what seems “normal” to everyone else and just doing what feels right for us and our family. We remember Andrew the way that works for us (I’ve got a whole post brewing in my head about the response to the Duggar family’s tragic loss and how judgemental people have been).
Christmas cards will never be as easy and fun-loving of a task since we can’t post recent picture of our growing boy, but I sure am thankful that he is part of our family and that we can show off his little sister, Savannah! God is so faithful!
Sarah – I think it is beautiful. You do what is best for you!! But the card is beautiful – glad you had a good Christmas! 🙂
beautiful card, sarah! and i wholeheartedly agree with you; you need to do what you feel is right in your heart. 🙂
Sarah, it is perfect, I love that you went with your heart on this. I struggle with this too. Every single time I sign a card or something from our family, I want to write Will's name too. It is another thing that we have to deal with and that, I feel, you should handle however you choose. If people are uncomfortable, well they just don't understand. Your card is beautiful!
Beautiful card! I didn't send any Christmas cards this year, because I couldn't figure out how to word the closing. I couldn't decide between including Eleanor and Everett, or one or the other, or neither, so I just didn't send them. It can be so hard for me to figure out how to integrate Everett into our lives. I just want him here, but we can't have that, and I do want him represented in some way. Thanks for sharing this!
Sarah you have the right to sign your card anyway you want. People don't like it then they need a minute in your shoes to understand. Hugs!!