Poll: Majority of Americans feeling grateful during holidays

MINNEAPOLIS — Wade Holcomb has a lot to be grateful for this year. With graduating college and getting a job, he also has a beautiful 4-month-old girl — who will be celebrating her first Christmas with her dad clearly wrapped around her tiny fingers.

“It’s different, having a baby. It’s something to be really grateful for, and she just makes me the happiest person in the world,” said Holcomb, 22, of Swainsboro, Georgia. “She’s literally the best thing ever.”

Holcomb is among the seven of 10 Americans who say “grateful” describes them extremely well or very well over the holidays, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Roughly another two in 10 said it describes them moderately well.

While positive feelings are dominant, feelings of festivity and gratitude are accompanied by stress or sadness for many Americans. About three in 10 say “stressed” describes them extremely well or very well in December, and about another four in 10 say it describes them moderately well.

About two in 10 say they feel very lonely or sad during the holidays, with about another two in 10 saying they feel moderately lonely or sad.

For those who feel grateful, being in good health and being surrounded by loving family members are top of mind. While Holcomb is thankful for the new life in his family, Steve Tutunjian is grateful to be alive at all.

The 76-year-old San Diego man has been hospitalized three times in recent months for breathing issues.

“For some godly reason, I am still here,” Tutanjian said. “Just recognizing you are alive, healthy and on the mend as I am — you can’t help but be grateful.”

He also described himself as moderately stressed — because he has fallen behind in holiday planning — and sad.

Like others who spoke to the AP, he is missing a loved one around the holidays. Tutunjian, a retired U.S. Navy commander, lost a son in 2009 to a combination of a prescription overdose and a bad reaction to multiple medications after outpatient eye surgery.

“You never forget that loss and emptiness in your heart, particularly during those times you previously celebrated with your loved ones,” he said.