Paul's Heart

A Christmas Message

I have so many wonderful memories of Christmas’s with my daughters such as this one, their first Christmas together. For the first ten years as their father, I had found a way to once again find joy in the holidays.

Of course, as many families find themselves, in divorce, new arrangements need to be made. Knowing how difficult it could get in arranging time with the holidays, and with holidays not really having any personal importance to me, I made the decision to avoid any potential conflict, and instead chose time around the holidays to have my daughters visit.

I would see my daughters in between Christmas and New Year’s for the most part when it was possible. The feeling of Christmas was still in the air, and of course, there were still presents to be had. For me, it was all about getting to see my daughters.

This year, more so than any other year, I have many friends who are coming to this holiday, with major changes in their lives through loss, whether by divorce or death. This will be the first Christmas that they are going through, I purposely chose not to use the word “celebrate” as I’m not sure that they feel this particular year feels as such. My thoughts are with each and every family just trying to get through this year.

And then there are those who have faced major health issues (some both family loss and health), and are overcoming those challenges. So many of my fellow Hodgkin’s survivors have undergone procedures this year, including a heart transplant, the true gift of life. For all of those I am sure this is definitely going to be a special holiday.

This holiday season did not turn out the way that I had hoped for sure. But with my daughters both adults now, there will come a time when I get to seem them on Christmas Day once again. And until then, I will just continue the holidays with them as I have these last ten years, with the aid of technology.

May you and your families have a wonderful Christmas.