The Christmas Letter

Every year Mark or I write a letter. There is no rhyme or reason as to who writes it. It may depend on time constraints of the year, if it has been a tough or easier year, if I'm feeling "up" to it or not. Basically, like much in our marriage, Mark will give me the option first. Some years I have certain things in mind to share and want to write it, other years it is just too daunting. We have had many Falls that have turned into Winters that have been painful. Sharing that pain or writing a simple update and excluding how awful things have been is Mark's specialty. Besides that, Mark is much better grammatically than I am. (that sentence alone, is a fine example!) His spelling and sentence structure are by the book. He punctuates perfectly and never writes the classic Ellie run on sentences. I write solely with heart, if you are looking for perfect written English, please stop reading right here! When I write the Christmas letter and Mark "proofreads" it, he inevitably changes much. My style is not his and quite frankly, I think I drive him nuts! By the time he has "fixed" all my errors, the letter often looks like he wrote it. I often feel like he took out "my heart." Try as I might, this hurts my feelings to some extent. I feel like he may think I am dumb or wonder, how I could not know that rule or correct spelling? We are different people and it comes across in our writing style. Yes, we share a life, but we were raised differently, we learn differently and we share differently. I think sometimes I forget this, my feelings get hurt when in no way is Mark trying to hurt me. Since beginning to blog, I have become more at ease with my style of writing. I know if my teachers were to read my blog, they might be disappointed that I didn't grasp the rules well. I realize there are probably countless errors in my posts, ones that drive some of you absolutely nuts! I stopped asking Mark to proofread my blog after the very first post because I came to the conclusion that although my style is somewhat different, it truly reflects who I am. So this year if you get our Christmas letter, I did not write it. I opted out this year and although I am sure to put in my two cents worth, Mark has a beautiful way of writing that I know you will enjoy! Merry Christmas!!!