Some of the absolutely best holidays I ever had was one that I spent at university church creating a thanksgiving dinner for numerous students who got snowed in and couldn't make the journey home for the holiday, and the others were those spent with fellow members of AA. In both instances, we focused on the things we had to truly be grateful for and for the small gifts that God had given to us in our lives. When one learns (and it takes practice) to focus day to day on gratitude and the blessings that we all have no matter how many things we DON'T have, it absolutely changes one's outlook and attitude.

This is not meant as a lecture. But it is a testament. It is a testament to what worked in my life. Those of us with the illnesses we fight day after day don't have to have happy holidays; holidays are terribly hard on us, I know this well. And it IS perfectly OK to not have happy holidays. After all, it's only one day out of the year. But we have so many others to enjoy. Because my son travels back and forth between his father and I, Christmas is whatever day we can all gather together. He usually flies on Christmas day because it's the cheapest. So, whatever day we make it Christmas day, that's the day it is!