(Radio Iowa) – We’re living in what some are calling a loneliness epidemic, and if you’d like to make someone feel special at this time of year, consider sending a simple but personalized holiday card in the mail. Rachel McLaren, a University of Iowa communication studies professor, says dropping a card in the mailbox can help you stay connected, or it can also become a prompt to reconnect and to show you consider someone important. “It takes a lot more effort to send a card in the mail, to go through all the steps of writing the address and stamping it and sending it, and perhaps personalizing that card than it does maybe to send a text message,” McLaren says. “Not to say that texts aren’t a great way to celebrate the holidays as well, but I think receiving that physical card, there’s something extra special about that, and it can really serve as a physical reminder in your home of all the people in your life.”

Some people include lengthy newsletters, while others may just sign the card and send it off. McLaren says there’s a happy medium when personalizing holiday greetings. “Twenty-five words or less is enough to have a greater impact on the person receiving that card,” McLaren says. “So if you want to really make them feel special, make it feel like the card is not just about you and sharing your accomplishments, but is about them and wanting to maintain that relationship with them. Taking a few moments to write something personalized goes a long way to making that have a greater impact.” If someone sends you a card, and you didn’t send them one, it’s natural to feel a sense of obligation to quickly add them to your list, but McLaren says that’s not how it has to work.

“You get to choose the way that you want to send out those holiday greetings. All of us have different amounts of bandwidth. We have different amounts of money and time to dedicate to that, and know that you can show your friends your love and appreciation in many different ways,” McLaren says. “So it doesn’t have to be through the card, but for those that you really want to get closer with, use that card as just a jumping off point to further connection in 2026.” While sending Christmas cards has been an annual tradition for decades, studies find the trend is leveling off. “That number is declining, but research shows that people still send about one-billion cards a year,” she says, “so I would say the tradition is still growing strong despite being in a more digital era.”

If you haven’t sent anything in the mail for a while, the cost to send out a one-ounce, first class letter went up a nickel in July and is now 78-cents.