Monday, December 15, 2008

The Shrinking Greeting Card List

At the moment I'm sending out greeting cards to family and friends as we do every year. I keep a simple address list in MS Word, which hearkens back to the days I used to print address labels. Although I no longer print address labels, I keep the list up-to-date by making notes of address changes (Jayne's in Georgia now) and, more sadly, deaths. I can't think of a worse greeting card gaff than sending a card to my uncle that's also addressed to his deceased wife. So I make sure I have "Aunt Ellie died in '98" right below the address.

I actually did that for my mom's address, even though there's no chance I'd ever be so forgetful as to send one to her.

The list is shrinking. Or it would be if we weren't adding new addresses to it: The Girl Scout troop leader. The piano teacher. The new church choir director.

Adding new family members is a bit harder but not impossible. With 9 aunts & uncles on my father's side alone, there are always more cousins to reach out to. One day the last aunt or uncle will be gone, and only cousins will be left.

How do you keep your list from shrinking?

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