Holiday season habits have changed, but I still love fruitcakes

By Edward A. Forbes

The Bulletin

Sugar Plums have danced; champagne has been drunk.  The holidays are a wonderful time of year. Time and age seem to have affected the celebration in many ways.

Christmas, it seems, has changed as we are called upon to say “Happy Holidays” as it’s more politically correct than “Merry Christmas.”

New Year is the same; we make resolutions to diet, exercise and more and then immediately proceed to break them all before February.

In the olden days (1980’s and 90’s) I would design six different Christmas cards and mail somewhere between 100 and 200 cards to family, friends and special people.

 Now, the old program I formerly used to design the cards has been “updated and improved”, which are terms used in marketing. “New and improved” usually means less product in a bigger package at the same or slightly higher price.

I tried to design one card and ultimately gave up. No matter. The price of postage alone is frightful to someone on a fixed income. I only receive a half dozen cards from relatives and friends.

Email greetings are more common, and for us old folks, Facebook is our landline equivalent. I still receive one or two calorie-laden gifts through delivery services.

I laugh when I recall the special family and friends whom I used to send really excellent fruit cakes made in Texas. My son and I are the last living family members that will eat the fruit cake, and my two have lasted for over two years.

We discovered a company that makes a pecan cake in lieu of the candied fruit, of which a little goes a long way.

(Contact Edward at  eforbes1946@gmail.com or send letter to The Bulletin, PO Box 2426, Angleton, 77516.)