The Loneliness We Don’t Talk About on Christmas Eve

Christmas is supposed to feel crowded: Crowded schedules. Crowded rooms. The season comes with a prewritten script of belonging — from tacky group photos to inside jokes to a living room that smells like cinnamon and other people’s nostalgia. But for a lot of people, December doesn’t deliver connection. It delivers contrast. Loneliness doesn’t take the month off. It just gets better lighting.The lights are brighter and the music may be louder, but that means the expectations are sky-high. That’s