It's a nice piece which explores solitary confinement in US prisons and what it does to those who are kept separate from their peers.

Christmas is not a good time to be alone but for many of us it can be hard to be with others (particularly relatives whom you've spent another year avoiding).

Think of this over the next few days – our species is fundamentally adapted for a world of others and (tiresome though your relatives might be) they are all you'll ever have.

I think that this is what the priest officiating at my mother's funeral earlier this year meant when he said, 

"in the end, it's only people that matter – that's all we ever have"

So try make the most of the time you share. One day, they and you'll both be gone.