Opinion: Before Facebook, Christmas cards kept us connected

December used to feel a bit like that scene in the first Harry Potter film. Not so many years ago, pretty white envelopes would flutter through my mail slot every day, increasing in volume as the 25th drew near. I’d line up all the shiny Christmas cards I received on a table in my living room. They made my house feel full of friends.
If I had a mantel, that’s where the Christmas cards would have been displayed. That’s where they were placed in my parents’ house when I was