Finding Christmas hope and gratitude where you least expect it
Every Thursday night I teach a writing class at a homeless shelter. We don't do much writing. We do a lot of talking. A LOT OF TALKING!
Over the seven weeks of this class, I've bonded with my new students. My new writers. My new friends. We're genuinely happy to see each other. We all look forward to spending an hour together. It's a true Win/Win.
Usually there's not a set topic for the session. We just wing it and go with whatever someone brings up. Not last night.
While for many people Christmas is full of happiness and joy, for many others there is as much sadness and despair. I remember that despair and sadness. For me, it was just three years ago. I was so depressed, that a woman who was drinking away her sobriety, talked me off the proverbial ledge. I thought I'd find the same thing going on among my new pals. I wanted....I needed to know what these people were doing for Christmas and how they were feeling. I expected to hear some bad stories. I expected to see some tears.
Life is full of surprises.
All I heard were words of happiness. Six people full of gratitude and hope.
"We could be depressed at Christmas but what's the point? We're all going to be together. We're all family."
As we went around the room I heard the stories that made me understand why. They were no longer living on the street, in prison or in temporary shelters. For a couple of them, it was their first sober Christmas. A couple others had new jobs. Even a simple thing like making Christmas cookies made them happy. As long as they were together, it was all good.
How refreshing! The only sad story and tears were mine.
When we meet again Christmas will be over. It'll be just a few days until the new year. They don't know this but I want to hear about their goals and resolutions for 2017. I'm pretty sure they'll have some lofty aspirations. I've got a week to up my game.
This is part of the Face of Homelessness series. Here's a story about gratitude at Thanksgiving.