Some holiday seasons are more challenging to thoroughly enjoy than others. Generally, I’d say they are the ones that arrive after we have reached adulthood.
Beginning in November we are bombarded with messaging — a lot of it commercial in nature — suggesting to us that to have a fulfilling life at the end of the year we must be surrounded by family and loved ones, wrapped in the warm glow of affection, love and appreciation.
We see commercials for luxury vehicles that transport families hundreds of miles to spend Thanksgiving with relatives with whom all conflicts are temporarily suspended.
We watch family matriarchs on television haul out a giant roasted turkey to an expectant and grateful tribe gathered around a table already collapsing under the weight of an already full table.
And we jot down on our to-do list the names of wines and desserts we should buy and bring to the perfect holiday gathering.
And just as the last of the Thanksgiving dishes are placed in dish racks and dishwashers our attention is diverted to commercials pitching the ideal Christmas gifts and getaways.
Radio and music streaming services play festive holiday songs while friends and colleagues chatter about the bargains they found on Black Friday or the websites they visit to shop for their Christmas gifting.
Holiday lights sparkle, Christmas cookies are baked and holiday parades take over streets and parades while children take it all in and are mesmerized by the holiday magic.
It, literally, can be the most wonderful time of the year when a focus on family, friendships and congeniality to our fellow man is emphasized.
But amidst the gaggle of good feeling and serenity are the pangs of guilt and concern — at least for those who do not consider Early Grinch a personal mentor.
Toy and food drives remind us that for 10 months of the year there are thousands of us —some who are family and neighbors — who do not have enough to eat on a daily basis.
They don’t have a home to invite guests to, they don’t have family who feed them and they don’t have the money to buy the perfect gift or the means to participate in the festivities that blanket our lives for the final two months of the year. They do, however, have strangers who care to help however they can.
This year the usual array of down-on-their-luck people is multiplied by the thousands of people who have arrived by foot in Tijuana hoping to seek asylum in this country.
There are many who see them as Mexico’s problem and as such there’s no need to fret about them. Maybe that’s true. For now. But for anyone with a heart that’s not black and the size of a charcoal briquet what is happening on the border and in our hometowns it is an opportunity to remind ourselves and each other that most all of us want the same thing — peace on Earth and goodwill.
