The end of the movie The Polar Express gets me every damn time.
The boy, now fully grown and lived a life, says:
"At one time, most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them. Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound. Though I've grown old, the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe"
Not so long ago I was the most holly-jolly, home-and-hearth, warmth-and-cheer guy you could find.
I let it fill me up until I couldn't hide the smile.
Perhaps it's inevitable as we get older, but Christmas isn't the joyful time of year it used to be. And it saddens me more than I can express that I can't hear the bell these days.
This time of year, grief seems to bubble up more readily.
But what I've come to see is that grief and love are so tightly and inextricably woven together, it's impossible to feel one without the other.
Maybe you can relate.
Maybe you're in a similar place.
So if it feels like you can't have a merry Christmas this year, I get it.
Let's just feel what we can feel and have it be the best one that's possible.