The holidays are a fun and magical time, but they're also filled with memories. Family and friends who aren't
with me any longer and friends who are fighting cancer right now,
these thoughts are all mixed in with visions of sugar plums dancing
in my head.
I guess I'm mentioning this because yesterday when I interacted with
an obviously very angry man in the aisle of the supermarket, at
first I was feeling pretty upset with the guy, even caught myself
thinking, 'What's his problem? Why is he being such a nasty person,
especially around the holidays?'

But then I reminded myself that life is complicated, especially this
time of year. Life goes on like any other day, people lose their
jobs, families are split apart, folks are feeling lonely because
this is the first Christmas since their spouse passed away, and
others are worried their parents might not be around to celebrate.

I had a good cry--and now I feel much better. I sure hope
the man I met in the supermarket gives himself that gift, too.


Can't help remembering when my grown-up children looked like this. They probably don't even remember.