Last year about this time, I was one broken human being. On New Year’s Eve, I gladly kissed 2016 goodbye. Like most Americans, who want their mysteries solved in an hour and pains vanished with a pill, I wanted the ruins of my life to magically be restored with the stroke of midnight. But, my fairy godmother did not show up, and 2017 was worse than 2016. However, for this Christmas season, I want to share some of the most amazing moments, which came to me in the form of people showing up exactly when they were needed the most.

As December 25 races toward us faster than the Polar Express, lists seem to multiply and mound with things to buy, things to bake, things to decorate, things to mail, things to wrap and things to attend. I know it all needs to get done, and let me guess, you’re the only one who can do it…all. So instead of trying to convince you to delegate a few tasks—you are not one of the eight maids a milking for heaven’s sake— I am going to add another to-do list onto your to-do pile. Why? Because if it is on the list, I know you will do it, just so you can cross it off.

My sister, Martha, painted the rise (fronts) of the stairs leading down to the lower level of her home with chalkboard paint. When I was at her house over the summer, as I walked up the stairs, each step had a few words written in chalk, which formed this question: What if you woke up tomorrow with only what you thanked God for today?

Get ready control freaks. The holidays are your time to shine.
Sorry to call you freaks, but I didn’t invent the phrase.
Besides, most control freaks are pretty quick to admit they’re one, as if it’s a good thing.

Oh dear! Did I just imply it’s not a good thing? Well, it can be a good thing if you want to be the one and only who knows it all, plans it all and does it all. Doesn’t that sound relaxing and fun? Plus, other people, such as your friends and family, are thrilled not to have to worry about having a thought, idea or opinion that counts. Everyone wants to live out your version of the perfect holidays. They are perfect, right? Silly question, of course they are. For you. Oh my, did I just say that?

It’s been a rough year…for everybody. Even if you were lucky enough to have minimal or no damage in Hurricane Matthew, we all had front row seats to the destruction of our beautiful coastal towns. Then, not even a year later, we see Harvey horrify Houston and hold our breathe for two weeks of weather reports telling us to prepare for the worst storm Planet Earth has ever seen.

We’re exhausted. We’re scared. We’re down. I have had numerous women write, call, or stop me in stores to tell me how down they feel. One lady wrote, “This feels completely different. It feels like I cannot breathe, like I am being suffocated with the heaviness of the situation. I feel like crying all the time.” And this was almost 10 days after Irma had passed. What we have experienced is real and has definitely taken a toll on our spirits.