There are so many opportunities during the next few weeks to connect with friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors. Some of these gatherings you look forward to, and others bring with them a sense of dread. After my mother died in December 2006, the day we were putting up the Christmas Tree, my brothers and sisters and I felt like fifty-year-old orphans. All our family traditions revolved around our parents and now that both mom and dad were gone we didn't have anyone to br