I didn’t wake up to the sound of kids excited to see what’s under the tree.

I didn’t wake up next to my wife excited to give the kids our gifts.

I didn’t wake up having to entice the teenagers to get out of their beds so we could open the presents before church.

I didn’t wake up to the sense of excitement and joy lingering in the air.

There was no laughter, no smiles, no hugs, no sound that filled the morning.

For the first time since I can remember, after 41 years of life I woke up on Christmas Day in my house, alone.

A not so subtle, a not so gentle reminder of what has changed.

My journey is different now.

My people, my friends are different now.

I am different now.

I no longer yearn for what has been, I now long for what it is to come.

I am reminded today as we celebrate His birth, that because of Him a new Barry is emerging, a new ‘birth’ so to speak; and while I have paused for awhile to readjust myself and my direction, I am now moving forward again.

It’s a different Christmas, but it’s Christmas all the same. So alone or crowded, thanksgiving is my aim.

Merry Christmas World.”

B.