Category Archives: Holiday Letters

December 25, 2025 · 12:15 pm

May Your Holidays be Filled with Love and Joy

“Hope” is the thing with feathers

By Emily Dickinson

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –

I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.

I’m glad to report that I’m still here to witness another circle around the sun. I recently mentioned that if I knew I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of my body. A friend said, “I doubt it.” And I doubt it, too. Along with the creaky knees and weak shoulders, my life has been enriched by many great experiences, some of which I remember.

Whenever I sit down to write this missive, I try to bring in something new, but I always return to the theme of gratitude. I suppose that’s because it is the feeling that dominates my life. How can I not be grateful for all that I have, particularly all of you? Nonetheless, I’ll focus on something equally important, and more difficult these days: Hope.

It has been a challenging year for those of us who are dedicated to peace, social justice, and a sustainable environment. It doesn’t seem possible that lack of compassion has been interpreted as strength; that economic strength is measured by individual wealth rather than general prosperity; that we are diminished as a society because people from other countries came here to make a better life by contributing to our society; and that the natural world has only commercial value? It feels like the house I’ve spent my life working on is on fire.

At times, I’ve found myself lost in despair and mired in cynicism. What helps me rise up is hope. While the house was gutted in the blink of an eye, rebuilding will take longer. But I believe that the house will be stronger. The foundations of this country are deeper than political ideologies. I have hope. I have faith in my fellow Americans, whether born here or elsewhere. Faith that most of us will weather this storm. Faith that we will rebuild. It doesn’t erase my sadness, but it does lighten it, and helps me continue working for a better, more loving, peaceful, and compassionate world.

Wishing You Peace, Love, and Joy!

Scenes from sunrise at Lehman Park

Happy Holidays! – 2024

Wishing You
the Sun and the Moon
in the New Year

And Joy, too!

I’m starting this letter on Thanksgiving Day. It’s my favorite holiday because it’s less material than other holidays, and it’s about giving thanks, an action that gives me so much joy. I have a lot to give thanks for, and at the top of the list are you, my friends and family.

I’m spending Thanksgiving this year with my cousins, my mother’s sister Clara’s children. Aunt Clara died in October at 101, the last of that generation in my family and one of the few left alive in the world who lived through the Great Depression. In 1937, at 15, she traveled through Germany with my mother and their mother, and they saw Hitler parade through the town they were staying in. Despite, or maybe because of, those experiences, she was always grateful and generous.

This year is the first that I’ve really felt my age. The main lesson aging is teaching me is acceptance. I’m slowly learning to accept the reduction in my capabilities and ask for help. I’m also learning to moderate my ambition. As Christine Lavin sang in “Shining my Flashlight at the Moon,” “Adjust your dreams.” We are very attached to ambition in our culture and feel a need to reach higher each day. The challenge is to find satisfaction in other ways. Quite often, it’s helping or encouraging someone else, but sometimes it’s not doing something. More often these days, I find myself just taking a moment to experience the beauty of the world around me.

Of course, the year has been dominated by the new dog in my life. Having had four of the best dogs in the world, who have all lived 14 years and bookmark the sections of my life, I was a little anxious about how Bran would fare against these pillars of canine society. I’m happy to say that he is faring quite well. Like my previous dogs, he could be more obedient, but I never made that a priority. Instead, I prefer dogs who are responsible, socially adept, and bring joy to the world.

In that regard, Bran has not disappointed. He loves other dogs and people and plays enthusiastically, but chills out and doesn’t beg for attention when I have to shift my focus away from him. Unlike my other dogs, he is not a counter-surfer. It’s almost too good to be true, and now I’m lax about leaving food around, something I’ll regret when some of his more accomplished counter-surfing friends visit.

With that, I’ll wind up and wish you all the best for the holiday season. Be kind, be grateful, and make it a mission to leave everyone you come in contact with happier than they were. I hope this letter has left you happier than when you started reading it.

“I believe compassion to be one of the few things we can practice that will bring immediate and long-term happiness to our lives. I’m not talking about the short-term gratification of pleasures like sex, drugs or gambling (though I’m not knocking them), but something that will bring true and lasting happiness. The kind that sticks.”

― His Holiness the Dalai Lama