Escaping Christmas

Christmas is a time to be with the ones you love and rejoice in celebration of the birth of Jesus. Celebrating life, just as we celebrate holidays, marks some of our most beautiful memories. But how do we celebrate when someone we love has been tragically ripped from our lives? The Jackson siblings think they figured it out… you don’t celebrate it; you escape it.

Growing up in the small town of Lake Harbor, Michigan, the Jackson siblings, Gabby and Jase, had the picture-perfect life: Loving parents, amazing friends, strong ties in the community and at their church. Now in their late twenties, life still seems idyllic until they lose both of their parents in a tragic car accident. They learn that life can change in the blink of an eye.

Now, months after their loss, this brother and sister struggle to accept their new reality. With Christmas on the horizon, the last thing they want to do is celebrate. Rather than navigating through all that comes with the season, they plan to escape it. Trying to put real life on hold, they book tickets to a tropical island.

But God has other plans for the Jacksons, placing an unexpected family, the Andersons, in their path. The Andersons look much like the Jacksons did years earlier. Through several chance meetings around the resort, the Jacksons form a reluctant bond with them. Quickly realizing there is no escape from grief, they discover a new perspective on life — the lives they now hold in their memories and the gift of life still ahead of them.