Better Late Than Never

Alright, I'll confess an ugly truth. On this day, 7 January, I mailed five parcels, six gift cards and over twenty greeting cards that should have reached their final destinations on Christmas Day.

Yes, I'm two weeks late. All Twelve Days of Christmas have passed, the New Year has begun, even Three Kings Day is over and done with. I am utterly, completely and inexcusably late.

Yes, I am ashamed of my poor performance, especially because this year I vowed that I would get everything mailed out on time.

Well. Yes. I do make that vow every year. And pretty much always fail to keep it. Sigh.

My out-of-town friends and family can testify to the fact that I often send my cards in January. Once, it was February. And one particularly jumbled year, I mailed the last of my holiday greetings in July. Oh yes, I did.

And you know what? People have teased me about that, joked about it, remembered for years on end that my cards are notoriously late. But no one has ever complained about it, or returned a card to me because they were no longer accepting holiday snail mail. As far as I can tell, my greetings are received with as much good cheer in the middle of the summer as they are when they are smack dab on time. Maybe even more so.

And that is why I believe, with all my heart, that late truly is better than never.