On Christmas, North Texans reflect on this year, express wishes for future
NORTH TEXAS - North Texans and those visiting our area say they are grateful for their families, especially during Christmas.
While most places were closed on this chilly Christmas Day, most people we met were either going to spend the holiday with their families or back home.
Kayla Common and her family were enjoying a family reunion in North Texas. "It's always just a great time to spend with family and friends."
Thomas Dyer was heading back to Arkansas. "We drove down a couple of days before Christmas, spent it with the kids, son-in-law stationed at Killeen, my daughter."
Regardless, they were reflecting on everything that happened this year including Alex Common.
"I think this year has been tough," Common said.
The deadly terror attack by Hamas in Israel and the resulting war in Gaza.
The ongoing assault on Ukraine.
The humanitarian crisis at the southern border.
Inflation.
Thomas Dyer added, "Chaos. In general, no one can agree on anything. There's so much division. I think we all just need to come together and agree on some things and start working to make things better instead of trying to fight each other, making things worse."
Alex Common agreed. "There's always dividing opinions, so being able to come together, celebrate Christmas and remember the good things about people, spending time with those you care about is important."
Despite all the troubles, they and others like Donna Miller, who recently moved here from Illinois, say they're still hopeful for the new year. "Just having empathy and sympathy for people and sharing love because we need more of that in this world today. Hoping for peace, that we can end the war over there, get back to normal prices, cost of living has spiked so high, food is blowing my mind and I'm just trying to get back to the norm, back to being able to survive, it's a struggle now."
Dyer didn't hesitate when asked about his wish. "Some stability, I'd like to see things calm down a little bit."
Alex Common said, "Hopefully, we can take a better-focused approach for next year in how we treat people and how we interact with people we do know and don't know."
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