May I Have the Envelope Please
As I was growing up, many of the television programs had an answer or something that needed to be kept secret until the time of the reveal. It was then that the Emcee would call for an assistant to fetch the sealed envelope to announce the winning answer. The emcee would say the oft repeated phrase, “May I have the envelope please.”
I’m thinking the same thing as I sit here with my Christmas card list and the boot box filled with the leftover cards from years past. I’ve said before, I am frugal and I usually but me Christmas cards right after Christmas the year before. Sometimes the designs in the boxes of cards have been picked over, but there are always some themed cards that are still acceptable.
The reason my boot box is filled with Christmas cards is that I usually have more cards than people to whom I send the Christmas greeting cards. So the cards are random with different subjects and verses. I have some cards that look old fashioned with their sepia cover pages. I have cards with fold out features that stand up when removed from the envelope. I have cards with gold writing sharing the birth of the Christ Child and ones that announce “Joy.” Written in gold on a royal purple cover are the words, “Hallelujah, King on Kings and LORD of Lords and He shall reign forever and ever.” There are ones that depict the Christ Child in a manger. The cards come in all sizes: longer thinner ones, smaller cards, and some that are just larger.
I try to choose a card verse that suits the person to whom I am sending the card. Sometimes I will choose a more secular light-hearted one or for someone else, I may choose one that is more serious and religious in nature. If you are like me, you’ve made mistakes writing on the envelope or card which leaves an envelope without a card or a card with no envelope.
Here’s where my thoughts of “May I have the envelope please” comes in. All of the cards and envelopes have been randomly placed in the box. They get shuffled and loosely stored from year to year. So when I’ve selected a card that I like, I have to sort through the stack of envelopes to find a correct size to fit the card. It’s like a miniature scavenger hunt.