“I’ll be home for Christmas, you can count on me…” Those words never rang more true than Christmas Day 2018 at Tenderloin Tessie Christmas Dinner. I am so proud to be part of this over forty-year, 100% volunteer phenomenon that feeds the homeless of San Francisco every Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and Easter Sunday. To create “home” for our dear guests is one of the greatest joys of my entire year. We seat and serve every table family-style, with each person being treated as a personal guest in our home. The energy in that big room of the First Unitarian Universalist Center is absolutely electric, and as one fellow volunteer expressed after this year: “if you can’t feel the love and happiness here, you should go see your doctor!” Truly, it is better to give than to receive, and I shall always consider Tenderloin Tessie Holiday Dinners home-base for my heart and my better self as a human on this planet. Much love to all of our friends at TT and HAPPY HOLIDAYS all year ’round!