Merry Christmas!

Hi neighbors! The countdown is almost over. By this time next week Christmas will be just another memory.

Many people around the world celebrate Christmas Day as the birth of Jesus and hold religious ceremonies to reconnect to the meanings and founding principles of their beliefs.

Other people celebrate Christmas as a time to gather with friends and family members to reconnect to their family ties and friendships.

There are others who do not celebrate Christmas at all due to its religious connotations. Some, indifferent to all sides of the controversy, choose to avoid the potential politically incorrect associations and agree to nullify Christmas as a religious holiday and lump Christmas and New Year celebrations into a generic holiday season.

Instead of potentially offending anyone, people wish others Happy Holidays!

I stick with Merry Christmas and although my intention is not to offend, I assume anyone offended will speak with me about the offense.

We all know what it's like to go to work feeling tired from not enough sleep, back hurting, headache, and facing a long difficult and painful day. When a co-worker pops into our office with a casual good morning we can get angry because we have no reason to assume it is a good morning. I think to some of the Happy Holidays folks, even the word Happy in that phrase should be excluded.

Of course some are offended because it is not a holiday observed by their religious beliefs. Christmas does get a lot of hoopla and news coverage. Public areas are decorated, lights are strung about and yards are decorated. Santa's appear on almost every corner and carolers sing songs of Christmas cheer and Christian praise from door to door.

Always at the risk of offending someone, I remind everyone that Christmas has been celebrated around the world since before any one of us was born. It is a beloved family tradition as well as a religious day of observation.

Maybe we should all just try not to be so riled up about things other people do. We all find some reason to be offended; some search for ways to be offensive. But celebrating a beloved tradition is no reason to get all heated up.

How do you celebrate Christmas? Many people have a big meal on Christmas Day, watch a parade or visit shut-in neighbors. Take some dog and cat food to the local shelter for the other homeless ones. Put some food out for birds and squirrels that haven't settled into hibernation yet.

Remember a holiday about giving and hope should offer charity and kindness to others. Many families take homemade cookies and cakes to others, go sing carols in nursing homes, give coats and blankets to those who need them, or take canned goods to the local food pantry. There are many ways to open your hearts during Christmas, the season for giving.

It's a time for family sharing, even if none of your extended family can join you. Have the children help decorate the tree, bake the cookies and wrap gifts. Let them help when you deliver candy and other gifts to needy neighbors near and far.

If there is snow on Christmas, go for a sled ride. Although horse pulled sleds are no longer readily available, rides down a snowy slope on a small sled can make lifetime memories for your children.

I hope you all get to spend time with your family and loved ones this Christmas. If you don't celebrate a Christmas for religious reasons, rejoice that is a day to celebrate family. And remember, we are all members of the human family -- any genealogist can tell you that much.

Merry Christmas!