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The days until Christmas are quickly reducing and it can be said that this is one of those years where we’ve needed it the most.

We all celebrate the holiday in our own ways, and yet this year we will not be celebrating those traditions of ours the same.

Perhaps we will find new traditions, if just for one year, but it will not be the same as being in the same house at the same time with family and friends, though some may still choose to follow through with plans.

Either way, there is a general aurora around the holiday that tells us things are different, not as grand as an epoch in time, but something that will be worth remembering all the same.

Though some of us will avoid celebrating Christmas together with family this year because of COVID-19, there are those in our community where this is commonplace.

For one reason or another, people are spending this holiday season alone, without nearby family and friends.

We ask you this year to think of your neighbors and reach out to them. Let them know there are those that think about them, even if it’s just baking cookies and sharing them. In turn this will help you perhaps feel a little better inside.

We’re all stuck in isolation in some fashion or another because of the pandemic, and little gestures can mean the world to somebody who maybe doesn’t have anybody to share the holidays with them.

And remember, as Ebeneezer Scrooge said in “A Christmas Carol:” “I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!”

Merry Christmas to everybody and thank you for continuing to support local journalism.