Before I forget, Merry Christmas everyone. Hope you enjoy time with family and friends, as well as this issue of the newspaper, with the second section packed with Letters to Santa, family traditions, messages from area businesses, and much more.

This holiday is great, don’t get me wrong. Families gather together, people decorate, there’s gift-giving galore, special church services are held to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, and much more.

It just seems that by the time Dec. 25 rolls around, there is a big letdown because we are inundated with lights, music, shopping, mailings, shows, etc. during the month of December and even sooner.

But, it is all relative. You can either choose to relish what the holiday brings or you can experience overload by doing too much. I choose to do the former these days as a grandparent, as opposed to my past as a parent of young children and getting frazzled with shopping, finding, putting up and decorating the Christmas tree, hanging lights outside, sending out cards, wrapping presents at midnight Christmas Eve, making sure everything is perfect … and then it’s over!

I admit it … my wife does most of the shopping, which I am most grateful for, and I still do some of the other jobs previously mentioned (however, this year, we bought and put up a fake tree, with lights, for the first time in 40 years), but I believe that Christmas is more about feelings than “things.” I let Christmas come to me and don’t worry that I have to “do it all.”

So, be merry and don’t let the holiday be too stressful … hope I’m not too late telling you that!