I'm going to start off by saying that I completely know and understand that everyone has their own way of dealing and coping with things.

For so many people, the winter holidays are filled with joy, excitement, and happiness. However, for a lot of people that is not the case. A lot of people, unfortunately, can not be with all of their loved ones for the holidays. Whether it is because they live far away, or certain loved ones may no longer be living.

For me, I struggle through this time of year as I lost my dad at this time and his birthday would have also been at this time of year. As those days approach each year, I find myself thinking of all of my memories with him, and I miss him even more than the large amount that I miss his throughout the rest of the year.

This year, however, my mom and I decided to try something different. While we still mourned the amazing man that was my father, we took what was usually complete sadness and tried to turn it into gratefulness for the memories we have of him and celebration of the love we had for each other. Though it was very hard to get used to this new way of experiencing the winter holidays, it definitely made it so we could try to have fun and be happy in this usually upsetting time.

For the first time in years, we celebrated the holidays and spent them with extended family rather than just sitting alone in our house consumed by our grief. I personally found the company very comforting. I was able to smile on a day that I usually wouldn't be able to. I was able to laugh and enjoy a relaxing night with my family filled with love, fun and games, which I haven't gotten to completely do in a long time.

2016 was a year for change for so many people, a lot of it being negative. My goal was to change something that was negative every year for me into a positive.

I found that celebrating my dad's life during this time was something that he definitely would have wanted us to do. He would have wanted us to have fun and remember the good times rather than being upset and thinking of the pain he went through in his final years.

Changing my feelings about the holidays this year was really about turning negative feelings and memories into positive thoughts. I'm glad I was able to give it a try and see that I could have a lot more smiles on my face and laughs with my friends and family during the holidays.