Today went better than I expected. I remembered Marty once telling me the town has big festival in Van Sutton Park on Christmas Eve. I’d been meaning to go see the giant Christmas tree they’ve got there anyway. There were professional carolers and a guy roasting chestnuts over an actual open fire. I’m not a big fan of nuts, but it smelled very Christmas-y. They were selling hot cocoa too. I ended up getting three of them over the course of two hours.

A woman at the festival recognized me from my picture on the Gazette’s website. She asked if there was any news about Marty or Coop. I had to tell her that I haven’t heard anything. She seemed pretty disappointed by that. I saw Lynn over by Santa while Leah was having her picture taken with him. She smiled and waved at me, but she looked so sad. How could she not be?

I’m sure it’s been hard enough not knowing what happened to her husband, and now she has to try to put on a brave face to give her daughter something resembling a normal Christmas. Leah’s lucky to have a mom like that. Moms are supposed to put their kids before themselves, right? I’m a bit envious to be honest. I wish I’d had a mom like that. Or any mom at all, really.

I’m back home now. Back in my mirthless apartment. That’s on me though. I didn’t feel like decorating, so I can’t complain that it doesn’t feel like Christmas in here. Ah well. I did remember to pay my Disney+ subscription this month, which means I get to close out Christmas Eve with my favorite movie: The Muppet’s Christmas Carol.

It’s the best iteration of A Christmas Carol that’s ever been put on film, and I’ll back that up with fisticuffs if I have to. Michael Caine turned in the definitive portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge, period. Sorry George C. Scott fans. He was great, but Mr. Caine was magnificent. And how can you beat the music? Rhyming “cheeses” with “meeses” was nothing short of pure genius.

I hope everyone out there has a very Merry Christmas tomorrow. If you’ve got someone to spend it with, enjoy your time together. There’s so much darkness in the world these days. The only way we’ll get through it is to seize those moments of light and hold them close to our hearts.

-Quinn Paxton, Acting Editor-in-Chief, Emerson Valley Gazette