Mary’s Christmas card arrived a week ago, which means the holiday season has officially started.
I can remember only one time in the past 20 years that another sender beat Mary Griffith to the title of first. That was the year my sister-in-law’s card arrived the day after Thanksgiving.
What amazes me is that Mary’s cards continue to arrive every year. We worked together for 18 months at the American Association of Counseling and Development, now the American Counseling Association. That was in the mid 1980s during the three years Greg and I lived in Virginia right after we married.
Working at ACA was my first “real” job out of college. And it was the first place I developed workplace friendships. I remember Mary and another computer co-worker, Winona, spending their lunch hours in the break room working on cross-stitch projects. They’d eat their brown bag lunches then pull out their projects.
When I asked, they showed me how to get started and follow a pattern. I developed several friendships at AACD. And for a few years after we moved, I continued to receive holiday cards from Greg, Kris, Holly and Mary. But I’m terrible about getting holiday cards out — I always think I’ll get a letter written. When I don’t, the cards don’t go.
But Mary has never given up. She’s sent a card every year and updated me on her son’s journey into adulthood and shared with me the untimely death of her husband from brain cancer. Over the years, the letters have turned into notes. This year, it was postcard size. On one side were photos of old cars restored by Mary and her son with a note on the back identifying them.
There’s so much about Mary’s life that I don’t know, and that’s fine. But every year when her card arrives, I welcome the chance to stop and reflect on where I was 20 years ago and those who meant so much to me.