Christmas is a sad holiday for me

[SteveG]

18. Here is a thought

Back in 1986 my Dad passed, several years after my Mom. A year later I was divorced. Like you, I came to dread Christmas, especially since I would not have my boys with me. I bounced around for a few years, and like you spent my Christmases feeling very down. But then I got sick of it after about 5 years, and I began a new tradition. I was in my late thirties and I had found I had a lot of single friends. Many of them really had nowhere to go for Christmas and like me, found it to be a bad day. I decided to put out an open invitation to my friends to come over and have Christmas dinner at my house. I would provide the turkey, and most of the dinner, and they could bring booze, and side dishes, etc.

The first year only a couple showed up, but we enjoyed ourselves, I had a tree, and a working fireplace, so it was cheery, and we partied. I had (still have) a firm rule, if someone was too inebriated to drive, they would crash at my place, even it if was just a blanket on the floor in front of the fireplace.

Well after that first year, my Christmas dinner party became an annual event for the next 15 years or so, until I remarried in 2002. Over the years I hosted groups from 5 to 30 people, and we always had a good time. No, it's not family, but good friends and helping others get through the holiday is a gift you can give to yourself and others.