Not everyone is cheery

The late brothers Gregg and Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band lost their father, an Army lieutenant, to gunplay on the night after Christmas, 1949. They were young at the time: 2, and 3 years of age, respectively. Christmas never had a good connotation for them.

Billy Martin, Dean Martin, George Michael, James Brown, Eartha Kitt and Charlie Chaplin all died on Christmas Day, leaving friends and families bereft.

And the parents of a family were killed in a collision on Belair Rd in Kingsville near us on Christmas Day in 1982. The children survived, but for them, and for countless others who have known sadness and loss at the holidays, this can be a doubly sad time of year.

I found out the hard way that what "they" all said was true - after a loss, the first time for everything is rough. First Christmas they miss, first birthday, first baseball opening day...hard to take.

I saw a young person making the plea on social the other night and I will join her. If you have love and peace and happiness and presents under the tree and food to eat and warm place to live, you are doing better than most of the people with whom you share Earth.  The young woman's name is Bry McCombs, and here is what she said:

Please remember that not everyone is going to be holly and jolly all season long. People are grieving, financially stressed, burnt out, just doing the best they can. The holidays can be a tough time of the year for a lot of folks and you never know what anyone else is going through.

And didn't she say a whole lot in just a few words? The pandemic, the violence, the general meanness make it tough enough for people, and then when we think of the sadness and sorrow that many people bear without friends and family even knowing what's wrong...that's just it! We DON'T think of their sadness, and we should. 

I am blessed beyond all measure, and like anyone else, I tend to forget to look beyond my blessings and remember those without them. As Mel Torme said, "So I'm offering this simple prayer to kids from one to 92..." Let's try to remember that this is not the magical time of year for everyone, and let's try to extend a little extra love their way.

We can find a charity at which to volunteer, make a grocery run or rake some leaves or shovel snow for someone aged or infirm, round up a little box of food for a family that's not had the best luck lately, send a Christmas card or just a cheery note to a lonely friend, and so on. Please add your ideas! And let us think of others at this time of year...