Cool Stuff Friday: Solstice Heartwarmers.


We’ll start with Joy, a photo from Giliell, Weihnachtsfeier (Christmas Party). Such a wonderful moment, and shows what concern, care, and inclusion can mean to refugees, who are in serious need of all those things, from everyone. Many hugs to Giliell and all her colleagues, who make life better for people. Looking at this photo, I put on A Tribe Called Red and a host of wačipi music, and started dancing.

joy

© Giliell, all rights reserved.

Next up, we move to Poland, and this lovely, poignant ad, which addresses the fact that so very many families are now separated and very far away from one another:

There’s an article about it here.

From there, we go to London, where the owners of a restaurant decided no one should be alone on Christmas day, and they shouldn’t have to pay for a meal, either.

Restaurant manager Irsan Can Genc told CNN that the idea for the free Christmas meal came after a local elderly woman walked into the restaurant in early November asking whether anyone could help her close a window.

The staff obliged, and the woman mentioned afterward while thanking them that she would be alone for Christmas.

For Shish owner Serdar Kigili, the woman reminded him of his mother in Turkey, whom he had not seen in five years, according to the news network.

The staff began planning what they could do for people in similar situations.

“It’s not about religion, language or culture,” Genc told CNN. “It’s about community.”

note

You can read the full story here.

And we end with the Lonely Night Christmas ad:

You can read about this one here.

Here’s hoping we all find the time to notice those around us, and reach out, not just in Solstice spirit, but in a newfound commitment to community.

Comments

  1. says

    Thanks, Caine.
    I’m pretty sad to leave them come christmas, but I finally got a place to finish my teacher training and I can’t let that go.
    I would have posted a second photo titled “Sorrow”, but it showed the singer in full. They also sang, some traditional songs, but also a kind of “sung speech”, where they sang about war and devastation.

    That last thing: wonderful. That’s what christmas is for me: time together, sharing love and friendship.

  2. says

    Oh, it sounds like the poignancy was heartbreak. That’s what christmas should be, no matter where in the world. We should be trying to reach out and hold hands, not break into little areas of isolation. I wonder if we will ever learn.

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