This year will be a little different for my husband and me. Our youngest child will be out of town visiting her grandfather, and our oldest lives on his own now. So this year we will be alone on Christmas morning. I am sure we will be fine with that; it will just be different.

Others, however, are facing Christmas without loved ones for any number of reasons. It can be a very sad time and sitting alone with memories can be upsetting.

I remember the year we decided to stay home for the holidays, after many years of travelling for hours to my hometown for Christmas with the extended family. It seemed very strange to us and we weren’t sure what to do with our time. We decided to make markedly different plans that year.

We knew that many nursing homes welcomed visitors for the residents who had no one coming to see them. We also knew we would be welcome to serve Christmas dinner to the homeless at a local church. We discussed it with the children and all decided to do the latter.

It was a very different Christmas for sure. We missed our old traditions and visiting with family, but we had a wonderful time serving Christmas dinner, laughing and talking with those less fortunate than we.

If you face a different Christmas this year, you might want to think about making a change in your routine, getting out and spending the day with others. You’ll have a memorable and heartwarming time.