Good Morning All. I’m writing from the other side of another holiday spent mostly alone. On the one hand, I like it this way. On the other, it gets lonely and I have to admit that as much as I hated “family holidays” growing up, I miss something that I can’t quite define. Is it that feeling that I’m supposed to be with ‘loved ones’ during the holidays? Is it that I am forced to recognize that just isn’t really an option? Is it that there is so much hype of the holiday that I must be missing something fundamental?

Today I watched a Casey LaDelle video and he pointed out the parking lots filled with trucks, drivers abandoned to the loneliness of a holiday alone. I watched a video last night about the elderly who have raised and lost their family and now subsist on memories of holidays gone by. And I watched a video about those with mental illness, physical illness or those who have made decisions to live their life differently than their family would accept who survive another Hallmark Video alone. For some, the holidays are a joy, but for others it is only another reminder that they are alone.

So, Please find it in your heart and thoughts to be kind to those you meet, especially during these holidays. You who shop and decorate and bake for families are decidedly stressed out, and so are those who are running the cash registers, the elderly man wandering the grocery stores with nothing much in his cart but very much in your way, and those who work their 40-hours and mosey home in your way on the highways to a cold house and a bologna sandwich. For some, the holidays are anything but Merry, and that paper mask they wear is for you.

Fair warning: The following video is hard for some to watch. For those who also struggle a bit on holidays, I empathize and send love. Hugs. Randy