When Holidays are Hard 

Tysm a family member was attempting suicide a few times during holiday season... its January and im still recovering. I hope everything goes well with you

What I didn't expect to happen for me was more family get togethers now after having my divorced parents during 2013 each get remarried to someone new and be even happier now. I may have an overflow of many tiny awesome traditions. Being ridiculous with friends/family sounds like the best time and I am so jealous of beer choir. There are so many ways to contribute creatively to things, from playing games with friends online to cozying in for a calm Christmas eve evening with movies and hot chocolate. Quality matters. During the hard time of Christmas of 2013, I did a lot of reading, journaling and more self-care approaches and talking to good friends and family. It helped a lot. Thanks for wonderful thoughts and Merry Christmas, Sara!

As a Christian, I am thankful for God's gift of His Son, and though I am retired now from teaching I am grateful for what I have. Our family never had any traditional festivities, either, and now that we only have one working daughter still living with us we celebrate simply with a small holiday meal which sometimes is steak and potatoes or a semi-Mexican traditional meal like tamales. I do agree with you that sometimes life does not pan out like we planned or expected, so as a result, we need to pull back if we have gone through some especially difficult time, like illness, the death of a relative,, a move to another city, or an unexpected change in our job situation and so forth. I appreciate your honesty and sense of humor. Godspeed in the New Year.