TL;DR: Some of us will be alone for Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Yule, Christmas, New Year’s, etc. Those days will be tough. Let’s help each other get through them.
Modified from a religious holiday specific post seen elsewhere:
Some thoughts for this holiday season:
It’s important to realize that not everyone is looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas. Yet we are inundated with the commercialism and the assertions that this is the most wonderful time of the year anyway. Some people are not surrounded by beautiful large families. Some of us have problems during this period and we experience great sadness when we think of the loved ones who are not with us right now. For many, it is their first holiday season without a certain loved one. Many have lost loved ones during the holiday months or won’t realize until the dog is not trying to trip them up for turkey that the dog never will again. A lot of us have no one to spend this time with and are overcome by loneliness. We all need caring, loving thoughts now.
There are numerous reasons why someone may be alone during the holidays, especially those who tend to be introverted. There might be family problems, health struggles, recent relocations or separations, problems with work, no money to visit home, and other concerns. Yet please be aware that we are out here, singularly and in small isolated groups. We do not want to impose or to lessen another person’s enjoyment of the holidays. Yet we still desperately want to feel like we have a place at the table (literally in some cases). Feel free to share a version of this to help raise awareness, it may help to combat depression or suicide risk for a friend or yours who simply does not talk about it.
It helps to know if someone cares about us. Some years are better than others. Share the love if you can. If you know holidays are hard for someone or they may be alone, (if you have the ability to) invite them over. It’s been done for me, and made a world of difference. Take care of them as much you would want for yourself if you were displaced and isolated one year. If they refuse, just make sure they know if the offer remains on the table.
I don’t know who reading this is likely to struggle this year. If you are estranged from your family or have other reasons to hurt through the holidays, know that you are not alone. There are people who care. I would rather drive hours to pick up a friend than worry that they are sad and alone on a holiday they normally would enjoy (to be fair, that also applies most other days). I appreciate their company and a chance to know them better, even if I only met them that one time in passing at some event. I am not the only person like this. Sometimes we simply don’t know if help is needed/wanted, or how best to help. Don’t feel like you have to suffer alone in silence. You are important.
Take care of each other this holiday season, we are all human.
workingthroughsomestuff 
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