Christmas cards for a long-distance Christmas

Somebody is going to be at the other end of a video call on Christmas Day, holding up a plate to the camera. Somebody else will be asleep, because it is the middle of the night where they are. Distance makes Christmas a matter of timing, and a lot of the effort goes into working out when everyone can be awake at once.

A card does the part a call cannot. It can be there before anyone is up. Choose one, write a few lines that sound like you, and send it as a link by email or text. You can schedule it for Christmas morning, so it is waiting when they wake, whatever the time zone says. They open it like an envelope, and for a minute the miles are not the topic.

5 things to write inside

Swap in their name. Change anything that doesn’t sound like you.

  1. sweet I set this to arrive on Christmas morning so you would have something from me before the day started. I miss you, [first name]. Properly.
  2. funny Merry Christmas, [first name]. I would put this under your tree but I would need a plane, and I have seen the prices.
  3. quiet Thinking of you today, [first name]. Wherever you are, it is a little closer with you in my head.
  4. sweet Whatever time it is where you are, [first name], it is Christmas where I am and you are in it. Love you.
  5. funny I am eating your share of the ham and I want you to know I feel nothing. Merry Christmas, [first name]. Call me when you are awake.

Questions people ask

What do you write in a Christmas card to someone far away?

Say the small, specific thing you miss, not a general wish. The way they laugh, the dish they bring, the chair they take. Then say when you will next speak, so the card feels like part of a conversation rather than a goodbye.

How do you send a Christmas card overseas without worrying about the post?

Send it as a link by email or text, and it arrives when you decide, not when a mail truck does. You can schedule it for Christmas morning, so it lands on the day even if you are both in different time zones.

Can a card make up for not being there at Christmas?

Not entirely, and it does not need to. What it can do is let them know you thought of them early on the day. A card they open first thing, before the calls and the noise, tends to be remembered.