Don’t get me wrong–I love Christmas, and New Year’s, and the whole holiday season. I love being with friends and family. I always travel to be with a part of my family at Christmas. I have given a “holiday party” for anywhere from 12 to 28 people for the last 15 years.
But I also find this season exhausting, and sometimes melancholy. I think of my parents who have died, the many aunts and uncles who are gone, and others I have loved and lost. Holiday grief is not unusual. Here’s a useful blog post (which I wrote) for my former employer, Regional Hospice and Home Care of Western Connecticut, on the topic.
Sometimes it’s not even that. It’s just exhaustion! And sometimes, it’s just good to be at home. Nights like tonight, when I am tired and still coughing from this blasted upper respiratory infection (2 weeks later!), it’s a wonderful thing to have the Christmas tree lit, and a comfy bed, and a good book. I’ll even turn off Sunday Night Football and go to bed early with a book, the cat, and quiet. I don’t need snow or carols. I just need home.
So, as Tiny Tim said, God bless us every one! Here’s to being snug and warm and loved. And for those who aren’t, may God give you those graces in the new year. And may the rest of us step up to make it happen, too.
writinghersense 