Hello my friends. I am having real trouble with Christmas.

[Blandocyte]

8. Sympathizing

I go through this each holiday season, too, after my mother's death in mid-December some years ago. Fortunately my live in does the decoration because I wouldn't do it. It's the usual syndrome of grief-- feel fatigued, uninterested, irritable, looking forward to the time when I don't have to feel like a jerk for not having "happy holidays." It gets better every year that it doesn't get worse, if you know what I mean. Some years have been worse than the one before it-- it's not a linear process. But each "better" year has been a blessing.

Grief counseling over the holidays every year can help, as can having someone put up and take down the decorations. Once they're up, cool-- they can lighten the mood. But putting the damn things up and taking them down is too much of a chore for the pay off if you ask me.

Nothing wrong with a little SSRI or other med during the holidays to let the sun peak around the clouds a bit, either.

For some of us, the death of someone close to us can sideline us for a long time. The holidays turn us into a glassful of tears easily prone to overflowing. So I put a bow on that glass and lean into one more day of the holiday season; god bless us, every one.