I attended a holiday party this weekend. It was nice to catch up with people, but it was also a bit sad and depressing.

Of the maybe 15 people there 2 had been unemployed for months, 1 almost a year. One man's wife had left him after about 20 years of marriage. A few had health problems. A woman in her mid-thirties was preparing for her parents and grown brother to move into her townhouse as a result of economic issues. People tried to be optimistic and hopeful, but it was clear on their faces that life has been hard this past year.

I appreciate both their efforts to be positive and hopeful as well as their brutal honesty about how hard it has been.

As an adult this is the toughest and most far reaching "rough time" I can remember. Sure, I've known individuals and even families who've had a tough stretch with tragedy or not enough money or just painful sadness. But this is a time when the bad times seem to have affected more people than not.

I sure wish I could muster up some brilliant words of hope, but they all feel hollow right now.