To say these last few weeks have been overwhelming is an understatement. First, the unexpected death of my dear friend's son and following shortly behind that, the unexpected loss of my brother - my only sibling.

Add to that the constant stress of being a freelance writer combined with the uncertainty of media today. And Christmas is nearly here.

The thing about loss is it makes abundantly clear what is important and what is not. What we can change and what we cannot.

Like many people, I am cutting back this year on holiday spending. It dawned on me this morning that I am going to have to cut way, way back. All of my traveling back and forth to the Midwest this month has eaten all of the money I had saved for the holidays.

That means I cannot take my family out for dinner or buy my grandchildren the small electronic gift I had planned on giving each of them.

But we will be together and there is no better gift - I knew that all along.

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