This isn’t one of those silly columns with funny stories and incidents you can see in your own mind.

This time of year is hard for a lot of people. People remember who sat in the empty chair at the table. They remember who loved to watch National Lampoons Christmas Vacation or It’s a Wonderful Life.

Those feeling take over and color the whole season for many, many people.

As a kid, of the 60’s and 70’s. I don’t remember discussing out loud, of grief or frustration or loss.

We lost two members of our school class by our senior year. We had no grief counselors or teams that came to the school. People did cry openly. But as a song from that time goes “ no words were ever spoken.”

We all have loss. Our grandparents pass, our aunts and uncles pass. Hopefully our parents are around till we are adults. But not in all cases.

I remember being overly frustrated when I couldn’t understand a math problem or get a project I needed to finish, completed to my satisfaction.

What this boils down to is we all have emotions. We have problems. WE have goals. Some people can’t achieve the things they need to do. Some people dwell, over think or just plain freak out about things. They are no more or no less than the rest of us.

My generation wasn’t taught how to deal with most of these things. We were expected to sweep it under the rug and go on.

People who have trouble dealing with life need help. They aren’t less than, or weird. They don’t need labeled as odd.

This is where mental health care is needed. There are things that can be taught. There are medications to help people get through the day to day stuff we face. People who need these things also need family and friends for support. It is hard on those care givers. They may also struggle.

Untreated mental health issues can lead to acts against other people or themselves.

We need to talk about mental health. It comes in many forms. It isn’t a stigma. Or something to fix on your own. It isn’t a crime to be broken. But it is a shame to not get the help you need.

Be kind to people this season. If they don’t celebrate understand the reason why. Help if you can, help them get help, if they need it.