I don’t think I need to explain to anybody how the year 2020 sucked. If you can think of a single positive that came out of that horrid, ridiculous, divisive crapnado of a year, you’re Pollyanna compared to me. As that year reached its end, and I approached the time to once again tackle my little holiday tradition, I thought about what it was we all really needed that year.

The answer was simple but, as is so often the case, the way to convey the message was a little more complicated. This is one case where my life as a teacher really came in handy. I don’t know if teachers should admit this to their students, but there are certain lessons, certain subjects that we enjoy much more than others. I do admit to my students that the marking period when we tackle Hamlet is my absolute favorite part of the school year. But there are other stories that I teach that I really enjoy as well, and it is one of those that brought “Warmth” to life. Like all truly great stories, there are different versions of it, and in this story I did a little work trying to reconcile public perception with the original text, while at the same time telling a story of my own. I think I did okay when it comes to that, but whether I did or not, the result is one of my personal favorites of all the Christmas stories I’ve written over the years. 

Christmas 2020: Warmth