Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1058645
4 UCW DECEMBER 5-11, 2018 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM PUBLISHER'S PEN STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/ EDITOR Stephanie Crider editor@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly. com ASSISTANT EDITOR Leslie Pyo leslie@upandcomingweekly.com SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR Earl Vaughan Jr. EarlUCWSports@gmail.com REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Elizabeth Long art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner SALES ADMINISTRATOR/ DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan St. P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: (910) 484-6200 FAX: (910) 484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publication with local features, news and information on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly welcomes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for publication consideration, but assumes no responsibility for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or material. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the pub- lisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit or reject copy submitted for publication. Up & Coming Weekly is free of charge and distributed at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per person. ©2018 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. Cover photos credited to the following: Soldiers walking in a line in desert, a U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Alejandro Pena; Color photo at bottom credited to VisitFayettevilleNC.com, the rest are con- sidered public domain via wikimedia. Various ads with art graphics designed with elements from: vecteezy.com and freepik.com. As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I realized that this would not be the merriest of Christmases for the Criders. "Sing one more Christmas song and I am not even kidding, I will stab you with a candy cane." at's what I'd said. To my best friend. e singing stopped, and a life-changing heart-to-heart followed. We talked about managing priorities, keeping things in perspective, knowing when to say no and when to ask for help. I was a young mom, and money was tight. My husband was gone for the holidays, our children were small and needy, and I was far from my family. On my best days, I was overwhelmed, lone- ly, scared and struggling. On my worst, just putting one foot in front of the other took everything I had. Traditions and ex- pectations aside, I was so depressed that I was incapable of rejoicing in or even appreciating the birth of my savior. My world was the darkest it had ever been. In the many years since then, there have been some less-than-perfect and even downright pitiful Christmases and many that were amazingly wonderful, too. But none as bleak as that year. Every Christmas season, as decora- tions go up in the stores and the jolly elf takes center stage amidst carols and commercialism, I reflect on that con- versation and give thanks for my sweet friend and the wisdom she shared with me that day. It's easy to get caught up in the holiday hustle, and when you're feeling it, it truly is the most beautiful, wonderful — insert all the magical, Christmas-y adjectives here — time of the year. But when you're not, oh man, is it agony. Trying to force it and fake it, when what you really want is to say f$%& it and hide under your bed until the new year, is a horrible idea. It can make you do crazy things — like threaten to impale your dearest friends with minty holiday confections. ere is no one-size-fits-all answer for the holiday blues, but there are strate- gies and resources. Being honest with yourself and those around you is a good place to start. It's OK if you don't love the holidays or if you are struggling. You are not alone. It's OK if you don't love the holidays by STEPHANIE CRIDER STEPHANIE CRIDER, Associate Publisher. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484-6200. HIGH 43 LOW 31 HIGH 50 HIGH 44 LOW 35 HIGH 53 HIGH 44 HIGH 48 LOW 35 LOW 35 LOW 30 LOW 35 DECEMBER 10 DECEMBER 9 DECEMBER 7 DECEMBER 8 DECEMBER 11 Mostly Sunny Rain Rain Partly Cloudy Showers Partly Cloudy DECEMBER 6 Trying to force it and fake it is a horrible idea. Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash