I have three things that I like for the holidays. 

I like to watch Moonstruck, the movie, with Cher and Nicolas Cage, even though it’s not a Christmas movie. The reason that I like it so much is because it really shows you what family looks like. You see all these complicated relationships that really are very simple, even though they feel complicated in the moment. And that’s very much like real families are, particularly at the holidays. And I just love that movie. It’s my favorite movie. And that’s saying a lot. It’s been around a long time. It came out in the 1980s. I watch it every year during the Christmas season. 

Then there’s another movie I watch called Almost Christmas. It has Danny Glover in it, and it’s set in a house where the wife has died, and this is their first Christmas without the mom, wife, matriarch leading the family. And you see all the issues the family has, sibling rivalries, people who don’t know how to act right, people who do know how to act right, and you see the kids. 

What strikes me about that movie, because it really is very funny at moments, is that people react to sorrow in very different ways, especially around the holidays. When somebody dies, and you have that first holiday after they’re gone, it can be really tough to adjust. So while I was being sad, I was also laughing, and I really enjoy that for that reason. 

And the third one is a video by Pentatonix, the musical group, called You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch. It’s just a song. But my grandchildren loved it, and my great-grands loved it, and I love it. And when I can get together with them, we watch it together.