Why not? It seemed like an easy way to share our family news with friends and relatives without having to write a specific letter to each person.
Since I was in the computer business, I began at the end of each trying to reach back and recall all the events in our busy young family. In the early years, I catalogued our exciting times and special occasions by month. A trip. A birthday! A promotion! A competition! An anniversary! A visit! Anything that seemed important at the time.
Then, I faithfully typed all of this up on my computer (likely using WordPerfect at the time), printed off copies and carefully folded them to put into envelopes. I needed to categorize the piles into Canada, USA and overseas. Then, off to the Post Office to mail them out.
It seemed that I was never ready and my mailout typically took place in the New Year. In my mind, that was a good thing. Christmas was over and folks would have a moment to sit and read our news.
Eventually, I learned how to include some photos and some graphics to improve the appearance of my letters. Wendy served as my faithful editor and memory bank for the year past. Thank goodness.
After some years, more and more folks obtained an email address, so I did not have to print and mail a newsletter to them. Major improvement. Yet, I still had some elderly relatives who had not joined the digital world. In some cases, I would ask someone who might live nearby to print off my newsletter and drop it off. Not quite as good as the Royal Mail but it still worked.
I kept a spreadsheet list of all the folks I mailed my newsletter to. Over time, I had to remove some names and edit others due to the ravages of time taking away some beautiful people from our world. A sad task.
One day, I decided that I should capture all these letters in a binder. After some searching through my paper files, I was able to gather up copies of most of my old newsletters. These, I carefully inserted into acid-free plastic sleeves and arranged chronologically in the binder. Only missing two. I contacted my kids to see if they might have a copy and Melanie promptly sent me one of the missing newsletters. Such an organized girl!
And so, I now have a binder of annual newsletters going back to 1985. My! What a fascinating collection! They are interesting to read on a quiet day. Our family growing up and diving out into the world. Memories come flooding back of all the fun times and the sad moments of our lives.
These newsletters now provide a wee window into our lives during that period. Oh, how I wish that I had similar letters from my parents and grandparents. Glimpses of their lives that I will never know.
Email: rvg3@me.com
Website: https://rgenealogy.ca