Not many understand why I don't share my memories. I have loved and lost, been ridiculed and mocked, seen for someone I was not, and hid inside my own skin.

I generally run silent. But I don't need a label to be a person. Labels are great for underwear and soup cans, but are a terrible burden when we place them on people.

None of us are White, Black, Brown, mixed. No one is American, Mexican, Canadian, Asian, etc. No one is straight, gay, bi, trans. We are all human. Go back far enough, we are all one.

When you walk through a cemetery, do you really know how all those people really lived? Grandiose statues and headpieces don't tell a life story. Now their lives are silent except for the memories of those who knew them. So it will be with us.

I am an accumulation of all of my life experiences, good or bad, up to this point. Change one thing and I am a different person. We can't go back and do anything different. No use in imagining things magically changing one day. Reality will always have the final say.

I have been careful not to place a burden on others as I have found placing that burden is as heavy as the burden itself. Too many rejoice in giving burdens to others though. I have learned that by them placing burdens on me, they are leaving others alone.

Open your eyes to see things clearly. Open your ears to hear things distinctly, open your mind to have a full understanding, open your mouth to speak only the truth, use your hands for the work of good to others and open your heart to learn to love as God loves.

This is my Christmas prayer.