I’m an insomniac. I take that diagnosis as a romantic sign that I must be a true writer. A tortured soul who can’t sleep, can’t function in the everyday world. Writers seem to be quirky and odd, and I’ll gladly own those qualities any day. I have a love/hate relationship with my insomnia. When my son wakes me up at 7:30 in the morning, I wish I had went to bed at a normal hour, but when I’m up at 1:00 am addressing Christmas cards and I write an entire blog in my head, (which I am now typing) I’m thankful. Insomnia and the night are my creative partners. I have my best ideas in those bewitching hours, and here is what my brain wrote for all of you last night.

I have an address book. Like an actual old-fashioned address book. My late Grandmother gave it to me, filled with our relatives names, addresses, and numbers when I went away to college and she put a little tag on the front that said, “Keep in Touch.” My Grandma and I wrote letters and cards to each other all throughout my four years in school, and that address book has become a staple part of my life. I have used it every year since, adding new people, crossing out things like phone number and instead adding email. And when using it last night as I wrote out Christmas cards, I realized how special that book is to me.

Sure, to anyone else, it’s just a bunch of names and addresses, but to me, it’s history. I laugh because I’ll go to look up a friend’s name, and when not finding it under her married name, I go back to her maiden name and there she will be. I have written her boyfriend’s name when she started dating someone, then crossed it out and wrote both their names when they got married, and on some of them, I’ve used the little space to add their kid’s names. How crazy! How much we have all grown, changed, moved. I have a few friends with about five different addresses. I just keep crossing them out and putting OLD over it, and then adding a new entry. It’s funny to look back at all the places they’ve been, things they have done, and to see how long I’ve been a part of their lives.

Sometimes there are sad memories associated with the book. I’ll come across an entry of someone I have lost, or people who have since divorced, or just those with whom  I didn’t keep in touch. But then again, there’s always new entries, new people in my friend’s lives, new babies, new homes. I love this book and I’ll keep adding to it until there’s no space left.

When my Grandma gave me this book, she couldn’t have possibly known what it would become. It’s a little piece of nostalgia, opened rarely, but opened at important moments, when I’m sending someone love.

Every time I do cards, I think about how I should really send them more often. The mail is the one little mystery and surprise we have left in life, and getting a card when you least expect it always makes for a better day. So after the holidays are over, and it’s a bleak and snowy February day, I think I’ll pull out my address book and send some winter love to my friends and family. A thank you, an I miss you, an I love you, all of the above.

My blog is a passion for the pen for a reason. I believe that putting pen to paper and writing someone an inspiring or encouraging message, can be a much greater gift than anything money could ever buy.

Wishing all of you a happy holiday season!