Everybody understands that holidays can be emotional times, for better or worse. They can be especially loaded for those who have suffered a loss, are recently divorced, or are lonely and isolated without a solution at hand.
They also can be times of unrestrained joy, especially for children who may be largely unaware of the concerns that cloud the minds of the adults in their lives.
American folklore makes a big deal of the importance of family at holidays, but we all know that family too can be a mixed bag. Family histories at holidays include stressful conversations, anxiety swings and fierce political disagreements.
This last fear — of political fights — is so deep that there is a constant stream of nervous jokes and advice columns in the media surrounding family holiday get-togethers on ways to try and minimize rifts.
Why do we fear disagreeing so much? Maybe what we fear the most is losing each other, whatever our flaws and differences, forever.
I sometimes wish as the patriarch of a large family, that I had a great and original font of knowledge and wisdom to impart at times like this — for my own relatives and by extension for everyone else.
But I don’t.
On the bad news front (I’m a journalist), I can affirm that we will indeed all have to lose one another eventually. It’s called death.
But until then, as other, wiser people before me have noted, we are all part of the larger human family, cousins if you will.
Meanwhile, yesterday is gone. Tomorrow is unknowable. So all there is is today, and if you are able make today matter in some small way that brings a larger meaning and a glimmer of hopefulness either for you or for someone else, do it.
There might be one other thing. Even after death, we don’t really lose one another, not completely.
Because we still appear in each other’s dreams.
HEADLINES:
Israel-Hamas war updates: 24 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza released (CNBC)
A much-needed truce between Israel and Hamas (Financial Times)
The Gaza Strip is the "most dangerous place in the world to be a child," the head of the United Nations children's agency UNICEF said. (Reuters)
Israeli army arrests al-Shifa Hospital director, other doctors in Gaza (Al Jazeera)
Pro-Palestinian protesters disrupt Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (ABC)
Judge on Trump NY Fraud Case Receives ‘Serious and Credible’ Death Threats From MAGA (Rolling Stone)
For Election Workers, Fentanyl-Laced Letters Signal a Challenging Year (NYT)
Head of DeSantis PAC resigns as internal tensions explode (Axios)
In a political shift to the far right, anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders wins big in Dutch election (AP)
India is seeing a massive aviation boom (Economist)
Russia Flooding NATO Border With Refugees May Have a Darker Purpose (Newsweek)
Why Xi Jinping sounds friendlier to America (Economist)
Nearly 40% of conventional baby food contains toxic pesticides, US study finds (Guardian)
Air pollution from coal-fired plants is much more deadly than originally thought, study finds (CNN)
OpenAI staff reportedly warned the board about an AI breakthrough that could threaten humanity before Sam Altman was ousted (Fortune)
Sam Altman’s Second Coming Sparks New Fears of the AI Apocalypse (Wired)
Why it’s important to remember that AI isn’t human (Vox)
What the OpenAI drama means for AI progress — and safety (Nature)
The OpenAI Mess Is About One Big Thing (Atlantic)
The Future of AI: Self-Learning Machines Could Replace Current Artificial Neural Networks (SciTechDaily)
OpenAI and X: Promises of populist technology, shaped by a single man (WP)
hild Decides To Become Vegetarian After Forming Close Friendship With Roasted Turkey Leg (The Onion)
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