As you read this, you may be relaxing with your family in preparation for the rest of day's activities on this, the most cherished of holidays, Christmas.
But you may be glancing at this Christmas edition of The Post-Journal as you prepare to start your shift as a law enforcement officer or a nurse, or during a break at the power plant or while having morning coffee at the firehouse.
If so, thank you, on behalf of the good people of the Chautauqua region. We realize our holiday - every day, for that matter - goes smoothly only because thousands of our neighbors are doing jobs from which there can be no real breaks.
Health care professionals, law enforcement officers, firefighters, workers who ensure utilities such as electricity and water keep flowing, the gasoline station employees who make sure we have fuel to get to grandma's house, the newspaper carrier who delivered this morning's edition and the retailers who sell goods that may be needed today are among those on whom we rely.
And in some workplaces, those who consider Christmas especially important are helped by co-workers, sometimes of other faiths, who pitch in so they can have the day off.
To those who work today and on other holidays because someone has to do it, our thanks.
And once your shift is finished, Merry Christmas!