In response to the column published last week by Ray Nothstine (“Christmas can’t ever be canceled”), I too am a liberal Democrat and I have a friend in Maine who is also a liberal Democrat. Neither of us would ever want to cancel Christmas.

Leslie and I were childhood best friends and did everything together. After high school, our paths took us in different directions and we drifted apart. We connected once in all the ensuing years at a high school reunion over 20 years ago. We picked up right where we had left off. There were no hesitations or awkward moments. Unfortunately, we once again failed to follow through.

This past October, I received a Facebook instant message from Leslie. “I am very sick and in the hospital. Please pray for me.” I immediately contacted her and learned that she has very severe COPD. After she was stabilized, she was sent home with palliative care and told that she had a life expectancy of six months at the most. Why do I tell you this story? Because we both believed this was a God moment that she felt she could reach out to me and that I would respond.

Even though Leslie is on oxygen, every breath she takes is difficult because her bronchial tubes are so swollen that the oxygen has trouble reaching her lungs. Even so, she still prays and gives thanks to God for each new day she is given. Cancel Christmas? Absolutely not! Her faith is about the only thing that brings her any comfort at this time. My faith has reinforced my desire to be close to her as she transitions from her earthly life to her eternal life. The birth of the Christ child is a promise that God is with us in our helplessness and suffering, that he is with us in this life and the next.

No liberal Democrat that I know would want to cancel Christmas. Many liberal Democrats, no matter their religious beliefs or nonbeliefs, acknowledge Christ as either the son of God, a great prophet or just a very righteous man who taught that all people should be respected, cared for when sick, fed, housed and clothed no matter their station in life. Perhaps my belief in Christ and what he truly represents is why I am a liberal Democrat.

— Carol Pomeroy

Salisbury