I keep all of the holiday cards my loved ones send. In the future, I'll give them back in a handmade memory book.

Every year, I tape all the Christmas cards I receive to the interior side of my front door. As I walk past my entryway, it's nice to see the smiling faces of friends and family. Sometimes I re-read the little updates some people include. Plus, the colorful designs make the house feel a little more festive.

But while most people recycle the cards when the season is over, I carefully untape each card and file them away. I've got nearly a decade's worth of cards, packed away and waiting until the day, years from now, I'll sort them by sender, put them in albums, and give them back.

I want to give my loved ones a memento that's truly special

My plan has always been to wait until the oldest cards from each sender are 30 years old. It's long enough for life to completely change and for mementos to really feel like something really special. (I've been collecting them for eight years; most of my friends and family have a short 22 years to wait for their memory book.)

I'm not necessarily strict on this 30-year deadline. For friends with kids, I might give them their cards back when their youngest graduates from high school. For older or sick loved ones, I'll present their cards much sooner, so they can enjoy their memories while they're well enough to do so.

But no matter the date, I love imagining my family members and longtime friends one day looking through their old cards, re-reading their "annual update" paragraphs from decades past, and admiring their youthful photos.

I think about one friend, who has three little girls, looking at her card from 2024 one day in the future, with her then-grown daughters. "Look how little you were!" she'll say to her 30-something daughters, who'd be home visiting for Christmas. I imagine one of my neighbor friends showing her daughter their 2021 card, the year they announced she was expecting. I picture my sister-in-law tracing the shape of her then-puppy, which she'd included on her 2019 card.

I started saving the cards in 2018

It all started in 2018, the year I got married. I was thrilled to create and send out my first Christmas cards as a newly formed family of two. I had carefully designed it online with a picture from my wedding and a card template. When I showed my mom the finished product, she smiled, sighed, and said she wished she'd saved the cards she sent out when I was growing up.

She recalled buying a box of cards every year at the stationery store (she'd always let me pick out the design) and printing out copies of our favorite picture from the year, before we'd spend hours writing in and addressing the cards. But she never thought to save a card and photo for us to keep. "It would've been so fun to look through those now," she said.

She said she wished she could ask someone for the card back, but who would have kept, and kept track of, a Christmas card from 20 years ago?

I took on the task of keeping track of our memories — plus, it makes a nearly free, eco-friendly gift

Of course, I know that some people do keep all their own holiday cards, but lots of people (like my mom) don't think about it. Others might try to keep at least one from every year, but might lose track of them over the years. It occurred to me: Maybe I could be the one to keep track of them all. I could be the keeper of memories from Christmases past. I could bear the responsibility of keeping track of our pasts, our youths, our memories.

And one day, give my favorite people a totally amazing present.

I'll admit, collecting decades' worth of holiday cards will take a long time. But the gift is meaningful, and it's nearly free. It's made with holiday cards that are already sent to me — and reusing! — and while I do plan to buy photo books to place them in, I've got tons of time to bargain hunt.

It's also fun to collect the cards

I love saving these holiday cards and thinking about the joy they'll bring my loved ones someday. In the meantime, I also enjoy looking through them.

When I put my latest batch of cards in the accordion folder in a slot labeled for the year, I shuffle through some old cards from years past. My oldest cards are from 2018, not that old, but it's great looking through photos of friends, thinking about all the great people in my life.

Every year, I look through cards from my grandparents and other family, who have since passed. I know they won't receive their holiday cards when I sit down to package them all up one day. But I get a lot of joy in seeing them.

And every year, I reflect on spending time with my mom, writing cards to loved ones, and enjoying the time we spent together. I wished someone had kept my holiday cards, but collecting others' is even better.