A Quiet Thank You to Men, Today
Merry Christmas!
A Quiet Thank You to Men, Today
Today isn’t a day for debate.
It’s a day for gratitude.
So I want to pause and offer a quiet thank you to men — especially the ones who are easy to overlook.
To the men who showed up quietly.
Who didn’t announce their presence or demand recognition.
Who simply did what needed to be done.
To the men who carried financial stress without complaint.
Who worried in silence about providing, about bills, about futures — and still tried to keep the mood light for everyone else.
To the men who fixed, drove, cooked, shoveled, assembled, paid, planned.
Who solved problems behind the scenes so the day could feel smooth and warm for others.
To the men who swallowed loneliness so others could feel joy.
Who sat at the edge of gatherings, or weren’t invited at all, yet still sent gifts, made calls, or showed kindness where they could.
To the men who didn’t get thanked — and didn’t expect to.
And today, I also want to acknowledge men who carry heavier, quieter burdens.
Men who have been falsely accused, and discovered how quickly the world can turn away from them.
Men who have been divorced and still worked relentlessly to father their children in a hostile environment, where their love was questioned and their access was constrained.
Men who have felt dejected and misunderstood, not because they lacked care or effort, but because the story told about them left no room for their humanity.
Men who have been trying — sometimes desperately — to do the right thing in systems that seemed stacked against them.
Men whose goodness has gone unnamed.
Christmas has a way of highlighting what is visible — gifts, decorations, smiles — but it often misses what is held. The restraint. The responsibility. The endurance. The quiet decision to keep going.
So today, this is simply a thank you.
Thank you for the ways you show love through action.
Thank you for the strength that doesn’t ask to be admired.
Thank you for the steadiness that makes joy possible for others.
You matter. Your efforts count.
Men have always mattered — today is a good day to say it out loud.
Merry Christmas. Men Matter. Men Are Good.
Merry Christmas Tom & family!🎉🎄
Thank you and everyone else who contribute towards men and boys!💙
For the past 15 years or so I have had the pleasure in all but one instance of spending Christmas Eve in a very special male place. Living in a college town, the place empties out over the holidays as people return home to their families near and far. There normal haunts such as a particular downtown bar become very quiet with only a few regulars and the staff who have shifts to fill then or in the morning remaining. These mostly blue collar folks are not just bar tenders and bouncers but snow plow drivers, gas station workers, mail carriers, veterans and other assorted folks who collectively inhabit what could be called the Island of Misfit Toys. They are the men who quietly make things happen for everyone else to live in ease and comfort, usually without noticing those who do that work, but often have no family nearby to spend the holiday with. In some cases due to divorce or other tragic events they have no family at all. Even the homeless are welcome. Each Christmas Eve these men gather in a particular bar and spend the later evening together. Some will step out for an hour or so for Midnight Mass but otherwise they collectively spend a few hours forming their own fellowship.
Listening to the Christmas story each year, this scene reminds me of the shepherds in the fields around Bethlehem, on the lowest rungs of society, expected to work in the dark and cold to defend the flocks while others enjoyed the warmth and social activities in town. It was to these men that the Angels appeared to announce the arrival of the Lord (not Lady) of all the Earth and to encourage them to raise their voices in adulation for they had not been forgotten...indeed, they were selected first to hear the message of salvation.
I have had the privilege over the years of not only participating in this fellowship but of inviting a few lost souls to take part as well. Even those who have families, by whom perhaps they are not as valued as they should be, have remarked how truly special it is...and how it embodies the true meaning of Christmas more than what most people get to experience.
Perhaps it takes a man's perspective to see the world this way but if so, then Men are truly blessed even if it doesn't always seem this way. Merry Christmas to all in this extended fellowship and to Tom and family for tending to this flock.