We didn’t recognize the address on the envelope and there was no name on the return address. The Christmas card, our first of the season, turned out to be from an old friend. Last year in his Christmas newsletter, he wrote about the cruise he had taken with his whole family. I was envious of him — in his vacation photo, standing there among his grown children and cute grandchildren, he looked as if he had gotten everything he ever wanted.

This year there were no photos on his newsletter. First he explained the new address — he had lost his job, and he and his wife were now living up north with grandma, essentially moving back home at age 60. His wife had gotten a job at Walmart, and he was trying to become a substitute teacher. He joked about being reverse snowbirds — the only folks his age moving north instead of south. The main thing for him was hanging on to some kind of insurance, he said. Both he and his wife had battled cancer this year.

So there in the first Christmas card of the season was the story of the Great Recession. God bless you, my friend. May 2010 be much kinder.