The traditional tangible Christmas card is alive and well.

Hallmark, American Greetings, and other greeting-card companies are still in business.

People are still buying them at the stores. I’ve seen many of them browsing and making their selections at the local stores during my shopping trips in the last few weeks. My own family has been the grateful recipient of several of them in the mail in the last few days from thoughtful relatives and friends.

Receiving a tangible token of love, caring, and thoughtfulness from anybody is a unique emotional experience. It’s a story in itself, one that is not woven in words but in evocative feelings. Think about it. Someone actually thought of you. Cared enough to think of you and to invest their time for you – buying the card, personalizing it by writing a salutation with your name specifically mentioned and signing their own name inside the card (even sans salutation does not diminish the card’s emotional value), searching for your mailing address and then writing down your name and address on the envelope or printing pre-programmed sticky labels on the computer that are simply and conveniently tacked onto the envelope, putting a stamp (hopefully they’ve purchased it earlier) on it, then finally going to the post office to drop off the card either inside the building or in the mail receptacles along a drive-thru. All of that combined makes your Christmas greeting a card of love indeed.

Then there are the special people who take all that caring even farther. I refer to the highly creative handmade cards that are works of art by themselves, easily doubling their value in the emotion department. They make you feel even more special!

A few days ago, my family received a card that was deeply touching. It was a standard Hallmark greeting card, with the simple but powerful artwork showing a white dove in flight against the backdrop of a snowy pine forest scene accompanied by an equally simple but powerful message of “Peace” inside the card. Two things gave it the extra emotional mile in value.

The handwritten salutation and signature appeared to have been written by someone with shaky hands. Inserted inside the card was a letter with a message that appears to have been typed using one of the old manual or electric typewriters.

“Christmas is a Season of Love. Sharing with the things we have is a manifestation of Love…. May the New Year 2015 truly become a Happy and Prosperous year, not without sacrifices but a life that is illumined with the bright sunlight of God’s Amazing Grace. Please accept our loving regards,” the message stated in part.

The greetings came from Leony and Dolly Dacuycuy of Fremont. The spiritual sentiment of the card is a manifestation of the family’s deep piety and Mr. Leony Dacuycuy’s work as a devout minister. Even more touching about this card is not just his age – he is in his early 90s – but the fact he can barely see anymore. But his voice remains firm and strong, as when he gave the very moving eulogy at my dad’s funeral service in April. He and my dad grew up together, went to school together through college, and remained close friends until my dad passed away. Now, Mr. Dacuycuy is extending that friendship to his late lifelong friend’s children through the power of a simple, tangible Christmas greeting card.

To contact Rose Albano Risso, email ralbanorisso@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3536.