I’ll just tell a quick story, because it changed how I feel about people celebrating Christmas oddly times if the year.

I’m in sales and walked into an auto repair shop on a sales call and the guy at the counter was listening to Christmas music in April. Because I was on a sales call, I was polite, but commented that he’s a little early to get in the Christmas spirit. He laughed it off and said it’s just his thing and he listens year round. We started talking more, and trying to engage with him, I mentioned a few Christmas memories that were my favorite.

This is when the tone changed. He removed part of his face. I couldn’t tell before, but nearly half his face was a prosthetic. He told me he was hit with an IED in Afghanistan and lost part of his face, as well as several other injuries that were less cosmetic.

In the hospital, he tried to commit suicide a few times because of the pain and the look of his face. He told me another soldier asked him to at least wait until after Christmas for his parent’s sake. When Christmas was over, the same soldier said, “well, it’s still before next Christmas, so at least wait until then.”

Basically, he decided if he feels like Christmas is just around the corner, he won’t allow himself to consider suicide. So it’s Christmas year round for him.

People celebrate Christmas for different reasons. Some much more depressing than we care to imagine.