Love and hugs to all of you

Holidays are such a time of both joy and expected joy--the hap-happiest time of the year! As such, they can be extra hard for people.

It's easy to forget this in the Christmas frenzy.

If you've lost someone, you live with your memories of times together, which almost always include holidays. And you miss the person even more.

Or sometimes you're more alone than you want to be, and you see all this togetherness! Families! Together! Every single one of which is probably happier than you!

It can feel very lonely.

Social media shows the sparkliest lights, the fanciest cocktails, the juiciest steaks, and that perfect family moment where everyone is getting along, or at least looks like they are. You see the picture of the happy family. What you don't see is that the parents had just had a fight. And right after the picture was taken, one kid whacked another and both started crying.

Our house cannot be the only place this happens.

I'm not saying we are always pretending. But life is still life, no matter what day it is.

It's a lovely, sparkly, loving time of year. And it's a stressful one.

Let's embrace those we love, and allow ourselves to miss those we've lost. And be gentle with ourselves and each other for not being perfect, or even close.

Life is a mix of the happy and the sad, and this doesn't stop just because it's Christmas. And sometimes Christmas makes us sad. Please, reach out if you are in a bad place. Reach out to your friends, your family, to me. Please don't feel all alone.

You are so very loved. We all are. I promise.

Big hugs and lots of love,

Lisa