To all members of Susan's Place,
With Christmas just a couple of days away 🎄, I want to take a moment to speak to each of you—wherever you are, and however the holiday season is beginning to feel.
For some, Christmas will be warm and familiar. For others, it may be complicated, painful, lonely, or emotionally heavy. Many of us are navigating distance from our biological families, strained relationships, or the quiet exhaustion of needing to guard who we are. Some of you will be spending Christmas with chosen family—friends, partners, and communities built with care and intention. Others may be spending it on your own. All of these experiences are real, and all of them matter.
Chosen family matters. It is not a consolation prize or a lesser substitute. Chosen family is built from honesty, shared survival, mutual respect, and love that does not require you to disappear to belong. For many of us, chosen family is what carried us through when biology did not. It is powerful because it is intentional.
I want you to know this clearly: you are part of my chosen family. Every one of you who shows up here, who supports others, who asks questions, who listens, who survives another hard day—you matter to me. Susan's Place is not just a website to me; it is a living community of people I care about deeply.
What matters most is this: you do not have to face Christmas alone 🎅.
Susan's Place exists because so many of us needed a place where we could be honest, breathe, and feel less isolated—especially during moments like this. Christmas does not have to look a certain way to be valid. It does not require joy on demand or forced cheer. Sometimes the goal is simply to get through the day with care for yourself.
Please know that staff and members will be online through much of Christmas Day, both here on the forum and on our Discord server 🎧. Whether you want to talk, distract yourself, share a memory, post something lighthearted 🦃, or simply sit quietly knowing others are around, you are welcome.
If Christmas feels especially heavy, or if you are struggling with thoughts of self-harm or suicide, help is available:
- United States & Canada: Call or text 988 — Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
- United Kingdom & ROI: Samaritans at 116 123
- Australia: Lifeline at 13 11 14
- Elsewhere: You can find local crisis resources at Open Counseling's list of Suicide Hotlines 🔗 [Link: opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines/]
If calling feels overwhelming, many of these services offer chat options. Reaching out is not weakness—it is an act of care, and you deserve support.
- To those quietly holding things together as the holiday approaches: I see you.
- To those who are struggling: you matter, and your presence here matters.
- To those offering kindness to others while carrying your own weight: thank you.
However Christmas unfolds for you this year 🎄, I hope you find moments of gentleness, connection, or peace. And if this year is about endurance rather than celebration, that is enough.
With care, love, and solidarity,
— Susan 💜
