I am sometimes wistful about Christmases past but that is because I have lost my immediate family, a total condition since June when my only sister passed. Ed is Jewish but he likes a holiday dinner and having friends visit. He likes the family connection. If I were alone, I'd probably volunteer somewhere. Glad your friend was able to reach out -- helping others is the best.

AH! but Christmas is different it has Christ in xmas, the one time of the year we celebrate together with all,

All my Christmas times were good as a child. I think the worst Christmas
that I ever spent was when Linda was small and spending the day with her
father. I cleaned house the whole day long and felt very depressed. I
think making gifts makes Christmas more meaningful. The year that Sara was
three, we made her a doll house and it was such fun to construct and furnish. My grandmother crocheted and made candy for gifts and I think
longingly of the Aunt Bill's Brown Candy we loved.

Mike has been working with the homeless people for some time.We have been trying to get them going.Donate,blankets,food,etc.Every week I buy fruit ,bagels for them to have some sort of breakfast.Last week we had 65 people at dinner.Tomorrow one of the top donor give them a Christmas feast every year and tomorrow will be the same.
We try to do our best in helping them and also console them.Not me,but Mike he is such a good social worker and trying to help them.We never had much as a child for this was in the depression years.We did the best that my family could give us.We put our stocking up and got oranges,apple anything as they did the best for us nine children.But we were happy.No no toys they could not afford it.The more that I think about this,how wonderful that it was celebrating Christmas in our own way.We were happy.That all that it counts.me.Merry Christmas.

I like your take on it, and it's a good way to look at it.

When I was living in the motel after the floods, I went to the grocery store every couple of days because I didn't have much in the way of cold storage or cooking facilities. It was nearing Halloween and of course the holiday merchandise was showing up, and one day I realized how depressing it would be during the holiday season to not be able to buy real food and cook it. There was a huge world of groceries laid before me, and I had to pick through it for the ones I could warm up in a microwave, and thinking about people doing their holiday shopping and bringing it back to their very own home in coming weeks was very depressing.

Although I always thought I had empathy for homeless people, I never truly did until I personally experienced it to that small degree.

Living in a senior community suicides are at a high rate this and next week!