This year, it feels like the holiday shopping season has been in effect since August. One member of our editorial board went to local stores looking for a particular kind of outdoor Christmas lighting, only to find that it was already sold out.
Last we checked there were still three weeks until Christmas.

Given the frenetic shopping pace and a recent slate of negative news, it's easy to find your inner self giving a hearty "Bah, humbug!"

That's why we were particularly grateful to see a romantically unabashed young man propose to his girlfriend Saturday during the annual Christmas parade.

Andrew Terrell asked Kaila Sills to be his wife in front of several family and friends and hundreds of onlookers. The story was on our Sunday front page and it even brought the Atlanta TV news stations.

In the middle of a crazy world, this young man made a bold proclamation of love.

He didn't care that the country is approaching what could be a devastating fiscal cliff; he didn't care about Irans plans to develop nuclear weapons nor the ruthlessness of the Taliban; he only cared about sharing his love with his sweetheart.

We hope that Andrew and Kaila achieve all their dreams, and we thank both of them for giving us a jolt of good old Christmas cheer and hope.