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A Christmas Card For Claire

So my task this week is to mail off a Christmas card to Claire.  I need to send it, unsealed to the attorney, so she can send it to Peggy, who can review it and decide if it is appropriate to give to Claire.  I find the process frustrating, to say the least, however, if I'm to do it, I need to get it done, if she is to receive the card before Christmas.  I went shopping for a card two days ago, and found the selection process to be excruciating.  The cards written for "daughter" seemed inappropriate - I don't know, presumptuous?  Buying a Christmas card certainly should not be so complicated!  I wanted something that left me a lot of space to write on... ...which brings up the problem of what to write.

I finally decided on a Precious Moments card.  It is "For Someone Special", which seemed innocuous enough.  I never know how intimate to be in contacts with Claire, and I'm always afraid of coming off too strong and driving her away, but since this is potentially the only contact I will get until next October, I want it to count.

The precious moments theme is significant, although Claire won't know that when she gets it.  On the day we gave Claire to Jeff and Peggy, my mother gave me the figurine at the top of the post. It has always been associated with Claire in my mind, and it was the first of my Precious Moments figurine collection.  I have accumulated a nice little collection over the years, although I have not added to it in a while.  I have kept a general theme of "helping" with the figurines, and added to the collection figurines that seemed to correlate with my life at the time.  I've added pieces for my marriage, a new baby, my nursing career, my time in the army... ...but it all started with my Claire Bear.

So I have the card, I have the attorneys address, I have stamps and an envelope for mailing.  All I have to do is write something charming, witty, non-threatening, warm, friendly and loving all at the same time, without coming off "too strong" or offending Peggy, who will be making the ultimate decision as to whether Claire ever sees the card.  This is where I have been for two days, and this is where I am stuck.  This blog post is essentially an attempt to get unstuck, and figure out just what the heck I am going to write to her.  I feel hampered by the fact that I have not written Peggy a response to her letter.  Although she did not explicitly ask for a response, I feel one is definitely required.  I had intended to send both my response to Peggy and the Christmas card for Claire at the same time, but unless I get a burst of inspiration and write Peggy in the next 24 hours, she will have to wait.  Christmas, however, will not wait, and Claire will only be home for a short time.

So that is where I am. My plan now is to pretty much keep the card on my person until it is finished, in an attempt to get it written soon. Hopefully, I will get it in the mail this week. If the attorney gets it by Monday, it should still have plenty of time to make it to Peggy by the time Claire gets home from school. I really regret that I have not dealt with the "Peggy issue" before now. I would love the chance to tell Claire "Merry Christmas" this year, although I know that will most likely not happen. I'm OK with that, because I know, that if I have anything to say about it, it will be the last year I will be unable to wish her a Merry Christmas.

So for now I will concentrate on the task at hand, and hope that when I am able to call and wish her well on special days, she will want to receive those calls. Heck, maybe one day it won't even need to be "special days" that we talk.