Tis the season to hear from your third grade teacher, old pals living abroad or your second cousin twice removed—or something. The Christian Science Monitor had a great story about the importance of Christmas cards and how these “personal connections… are more important than ever” because they “serve as a barometer of people’s lives.”

Word.

I love getting a year’s worth of hand-written gossip—oh, and the Hallmark card is nice too.

You can check out Marilyn Gardner’s piece here.