Role of Nostalgia During Holidays
The Christmas Eve article by Joseph N. Bell (“A Mother’s Perseverance,” Life, Dec. 24) was a delight, a joy and I believe a classic.
The article caught the true meaning of Christmas. Too often I have heard people speak of Christmas only in terms of the past and what it meant to them in earlier times.
Joe Bell, with his typical emphasis on the positive and on the reality of the present, summed it all up when he said: “Nostalgia rightly becomes more important at Christmas, and we rightly tend to choose the joys to remember. This is probably as it should be except for one thing: They should augment rather than get in the way of our efforts to explore the joys of Christmas present.”
I urge The Times to make his article a part of future Christmas issues so that others can have a better understanding of the role of nostalgia during the Christmas season.
BRUCE W. SUMNER
Balboa Island
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