The first Holiday after suffering a loss is hard. You see all these smiles and hear all this laughter and give and receive all these gifts and cards... but there's one missing. They aren't there, and they never will be again. You can feel it, empty and heavy all at once. It's devastating and alienating and confusing and just wrong.
This is a reminder to anyone going through their first Holiday season without that parent, child, lover, partner, aunt, uncle, friend, sibling, grandparent, cousin, niece, nephew, teacher, mentor, pet (yes, we mourn our furry/feathered/scaled companions the same as our human ones) or any other loved one to take a moment away. Step aside from the music and decorations and food and gifts and just breathe. Cry. Remember them. Miss them.
You aren't ruining Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule, or whatever you're meant to be celebrating. You are celebrating. You're just doing it with a different perspective and a heavier heart.