Depression in Kids, Mini Crutches, Fleeting Generosity

Here's an American routine: I always watch A Charlie Brown Christmas this time of year. Mostly because the music is really good and the dancing is AWESOME. But I've always felt a small gnawing sadness knocking around in my heart of hearts. I usually disregard it, but this time, I realized, this holiday program is DEPRESSING, with a double capital D (and if I knew how to make that D extra big, I would).

Charlie just said (after checking his empty mailbox): "Nobody has ever liked me. I don't know why we need a Holiday to celebrate it."

I don't care how it ends, that is downright SAD. My mom says, "You know, they say Charles Schultz was a pretty depressed guy." The perfect prototype for making CHILDREN's movies and stories. No wonder we feel sorry for ourselves so often.

One of the saddest moments of my childhood was after I watched the Disney version of A Christmas Carol with Mickey Mouse and his whole family and their little bitty turkey dinner. I felt so bad for the Tiny Tim version of Mickey, really mini, and on his really mini crutches (a seriously sad circumstance when you think about them- mini crutches), that I asked my mom, when I was going to bed, "Can I give all my money in the bank to the poor?"

She said, "No," and tucked me into my warm bed, and I cried quietly and never again considered giving all of my money to the poor.