TB, I'm reading, wishing you were fifteen or twenty minutes from me. Everyone is fifteen or twenty minutes, minimum, from us. Yesterday morning, my husband and I were brainstorming -- was there anyone we forgot? Yeah, Jay. He doesn't have family around. I call and leave a message on his voice mail. Find out later he bought a plane ticket to go home to his family. But had he not, I would have sent someone half an hour away to get him and bring him to our house for dinner. We sent a ride for another woman, but she has health issues and wasn't up to it. I wish I'd have gotten a call. I would have emphasized that we have recliners and rocking chairs all over the house. We'd have made her comfortable. A third friend got two plates delivered to the bar where he works.
And though all this probably doesn't make you feel any less lonely, I'm saying it to urge you to keep reaching out. There are folks who will 'adopt' you. It may be one of the guys with a wife or partner active in Al-anon. Or it may be someone like me who's been alone on the holidays and doesn't want anyone else to be, if I can help it. There's community out there for you, so please, keep doing what you can do to build it up around you.
Peace & Love,
Sugah