Christmas is an entirely secular holiday for me, and yet I plunge in, year after year, just basking in it. The raw sentimentality pleases me.

I notice small acts of kindness that seem to go with the season, and ignore the godawful Christmas music (never carols) in the supermarkets and shopping malls. This time, I begin to say a thankful goodbye to the worst year I have personally ever experienced. Death and madness the world over.

For me, Christmas is family, friends and hope. I wish all readers the very best of the season, and a New Year that is better than this one—it could hardly be worse, but maybe I lack imagination.

Thank you to friends, including those I have never met face-to-face. And to those who have, in some way large or small, blown back against the prevailing winds.