The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Cape Cod and The Islands is once again offering its Family to Family Education course, a free 12-week course all about the various mental illnesses including bipolar disorder, OCD, anxiety disorders, major depression and others. Medications, communication skills and self care are also covered. Taught by trained family member volunteers, weekly classes begin on Wednesday, Jan. 9 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. in Vineyard Haven and continue for 12 consecutive weeks through March 13. For additional information and to register, contact the NAMI CC&I office at 508-778-4277 or [email protected].

What a grand holiday it has been for the Family-to-Family holiday distribution program. For nearly a decade, this volunteer-run operation has provided the ingredients for healthy holiday meals three times a year — Thanksgiving, Christmas, and in the spring — to families in need. This year, however, it looked like this young tradition might come to an end, because requests for help were up and contributions were down and we were out of money. As coordinator of the program, I was sadly contemplating how to gracefully shut it down.

Thanks to Tucker Hubbell, Erik Lowe, Ernie Mendenhall, John Powers and Mark Mazer for making the West Tisbury yard sale a reality. They raised over $2,300 for the town of West Tisbury. Thank you!

This I believe: Whoever takes it upon himself individually to fire an armed weapon at any one or more persons is by definition violating the Constitution of the United States, specifically the Second Amendment, and should be punished by the proper authorities for doing so, for as the amendment states, he has not shown that he is part of a well-regulated militia.

In the aftermath of what is arguably the most horrific, emotionally impactful mass homicide in memory, nearly every commentator in both print and digital media has evoked the specter of the NRA. Its history of successful campaigns to deter, deflect and defeat every effort by governmental authorities throughout the United States, whether local, state or federal, to pass effective gun control legislation is legendary.

Thank you to the Vineyard Gazette for publishing the beautiful photo of Grace on the front page. As our children grow, we tend to forget the sweetness in the faces of the little children who are so filled with wonder and joy of the world around them.