For many years here on KHAK, I have sounded the alarm. I have stood up for Thanksgiving, the increasingly forgotten holiday that Christmas seems to be enveloping more each year. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. What's not to love about a day filled with family, friends, food, and football? But this year, my heart has apparently softened. The spirit of Christmas is seeping in and I think I know why.

2017 has been a rough year for many people. We are continually hammered with 'bad news'. We are surrounded by a caustic political climate that refuses to let the word 'compromise' work its way into any conversation. Then there was Las Vegas. A terrorist attack in New York City. Another shooting in Texas, this time in a church no less. We've been beaten down with horrible events and many people, including myself, don't know where to turn. How do we pick our spirits up? What can we do to introduce some cheer into our lives? Enter Christmas.

I've seen countless pictures on social media of people putting and decorating their Christmas trees already. The lights are up and on. In previous years I would have just torn into these people. Here they all are forgetting Thanksgiving again! But I finally realized the beauty in it. Christmas is the light we all need in our lives right now. Whether it's buying gifts for other people, seeing the joy in children as they wait for Santa, or celebrating the birth of Jesus, we need Christmas more than ever right now. We need its giving spirit. We need its sense of joy and hope. We need something to bring us all back together.

So go ahead and put up and decorate that tree. Hang your stockings with care. Throw the lights on the house 'Griswold' style! Do it because it makes you and your family happy. Yes, I'll still go on loving Thanksgiving more than most people. But this year, Christmas has already stolen my heart.

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