There’s nothing like Christmas to make me “happy sad.” That’s my simple, silly way to describe the not-silly feeling when my brain must hold two opposing facts, two opposite realities, at the same time.

Police officers can feel this way, by the way. So can ER teams, social workers, ministers, and anyone whose job can brings them in contact with the worst that can happen any day.

Here’s a happy-sad fact. People are going without the necessities of life in Huntsville every day. One the richest towns in the richest nation on Earth, whose roads can look like Tesla rallies, has children going hungry every day.

But this isn’t every day. It’s the Christmas season where people can spend $1,000 on a second artificial tree. And here’s the other truth you must remember: Good people are helping these children and their parents. Every day but especially at this time of year. And they need us.

The Downtown Rescue Mission in northwest Huntsville is feeding and sleeping 300 people a night and more when it’s cold. The mission is one of the programs that can literally move a person off the street and into a solid job.