Holidays are not happy, family times for everyone

Good for you Carol! The holidays are difficult for many. My husband and I are bracing ourselves for Thanksgiving because our deceased daughter was born on that day. In her memory, I write articles for two grief support websites. I just wrote two books for grieving kids and a publisher accepted them yesterday. Like you and your husband, I try to make something good from a difficult experience.

@harriethodgson1 Kudos to you too, Harriet. We, of course, have not had the experience you have, but I applaud you for your writing. It is a wonderful way to deal with feelings. As a composition teacher, I am happy just knowing you have written two books and articles for grief websites. I hope you will share some of your thoughts on the Connect website, if you haven't already. It is a hard time to get through, but we have to do something for other people to mark the seasons and not allow ourselves to fall into the deep, sad abyss.
Bless you.
Carol

@retiredteacher Hey Carol, thank you so much for your post. It’s me, too. I hate this time of year and yes, I choose to try to only concentrate on the spiritual part of it. I have to put up my armor and quash feelings of depression and loneliness. I have 1 brother and no other family. Well, I do have some cousins but they choose not to be a part of my life. I just had to write when I read your post. I will be thinking of you and your husband this season.....,Karen

@karen00 It's good to know we are not alone, and that is why I posted the topic. You know, one thing we could do is get a bowl and write the names of our Mayo friends who are alone for the holidays and put the names in the bowl. Then we could include them in our prayers of gratitude and blessings.
Carol

Thanks so much Carol. After four family members died in 2007, the focus of my writing changed from health/wellness to grief healing. Some of the books I've written: 1) Smiling Through Your Tears: Anticipating Grief, 2) Happy Again! Your New and Meaningful Life After Loss, 3)101 Affirmations to Ease Your Grief Journey: Words of Comfort, Words of Hope, 4) Seed Time: Growing from Life's Disappointments, Losses, and Sorrows, 5) Writing to Recover: The Journey from Loss and Grief to a New Life, 6) Writing to Recover Journal, 7) The Spiritual Woman: Quotes to Sustain and Refresh Your Soul.

@retiredteacher Yes Carol, that’s a great idea! I guess we could ask everyone to let us know if they would like prayers of gratitude???

Lovely idea.

@karen Good idea. We should ask if people who respond want to be included in the prayer. Some may prefer not to be.

When I am invited to dinner at a Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Christian, Indian, Hindu, etc. home, I respect their customs.

Good addition to this conversation, @retiredteacher Personally I am a nonbeliever so I prefer to not be included. It is good to remember our community here is extremely diverse!