Holiday letter
how to’s
CHRONICLE OF CHEER or hotbed of
hyperbole? The debate over holiday letters
rages on. Whether you view them with dread
or delight, annual letters are still one of the
easiest ways to recap the year for friends and
family. Creating the annual family letter
doesn’t have to be a headache. Here are some
ways to get it done and make it fun.
< First and foremost, keep it short. One
page is max—and use a readable font. Spotlight
a few noteworthy events and let the rest go.
< Be honest, but upbeat. Pick some positive
moments to report. Even if you had a difficult
year, focus on the bright side.
< Add graphics or artwork to break up the
text. Desktop publishing can make it a breeze.
If you don’t know how, ask a teenager!
< Hate to write? Enlist other family members to help out. Request a brief paragraph
from each kid, one from your spouse, a paw
print from the family pet and, voilà, the letter’s done.
< Humor is always welcome. Use a creative
title, such as “Greetings from the Family
Whose Kids Are Better
Than Yours.” In this
light-hearted letter, the
offspring are all successful and every child
played the lead in the
spring musical.
< Liven up the facts
with a multiple-choice
format. For example, “In
June, our son Bobby (a) became
the first teenage astronaut; (b) graduated
from high school; (c) announced his decision
to run with Hillary Clinton in ’08.”
< Include a picture, which is better than a
thousand words. Friends and relatives love to
see how much the kids have grown (and how
much you’ve aged). Snap the family photo in
an off-beat locale, a place you visited or a spot
that you remodeled in the past year. Try dressing down—a pajama picture can be fun—
instead of dressing up. (Costco’s 1-Hour Photo
and digital photo service makes it easy to
enclose or attach photos in minutes.)
KEN BROMAN
By the way, there’s no law that says you
have to get your letter out by a certain date. If
the holidays are too crammed, wait until
afterward and send a New Year’s epistle. Then
you can relax, add a few personal lines and
answer any notes you received.
Whether your letter arrives by snail mail
or e-mail, it’s sure to be a welcome greeting to
friends far and near. And if you make it an
annual tradition, someday you’ll look back
and have a ready-made chronicle of your
life.—Lois Swagerty
Get your
whole family
in the picture.
These Lumix digital cameras all feature a 28mm wide-angle Leica lens plus MEGA Optical Image Stabilization
and Intelligent ISO to help prevent blurry pictures.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18
18x optical zoom 8. 1 megapixels
Detects up to 15 faces in the frame
Options for manual control or Intelligent Auto Mode
Includes 1 GB* SD card and case
Item #226487
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX55
Slim design fits in a pocket or purse
3.6x optical zoom 8. 1 megapixels
Detects up to 15 faces in the frame
Large 3" wide LCD for easy viewing
Includes one 1 GB* or two 512 MB SD cards and case
Item #228876
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3
10x optical zoom 7. 2 megapixels
Elegant stainless steel body
Compact design great for travel
3" high-resolution LCD
Includes case
Item #187912
* 1 GB = 1 billion bytes. Useable capacity will be less.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX55
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3