It’s two days to Christmas, and I am alone in a house too big for one person and too small for an extended family. The reason I’m alone at this most sharing time of the year is irrelevant. The reality is not.

This is my personal choice. But if you want to experience the generosity and kindness of friends and even strangers, tell people you are alone for Christmas. The response is as astonishing as it is humbling. No one remains unconcerned. No one wants anyone to be alone on this holiday. It is a heartwarming generosity of spirit, and one many people rarely face or experience.

This is the true spirit of the season — to reach out to the lonely, bereft and abandoned among us. That I am none of the above in no way diminishes the realization of being the recipient instead of the donor or giver. It is a strange feeling, being on the receiving end. Perhaps this is a lesson in acceptance that passes by too often.

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