This Christmas season, I’m going to relax. For the first time in four years, I don’t have to think about study or essay deadlines, and it’s going to be great. I’m looking forward to spending quality time with my family and friends, catching up on films, TV and reading, and designing some new knitwear pieces. I’m going to allow myself the time to appreciate how lucky I am.
I am fully aware, though, that the shadow side of Christmas can mean financial and family stress, and can amplify feelings of loss or loneliness for some. I know something of loss because early this year my father passed away, having been in the grip of worsening dementia and heart disease for some time. We lost him years ago, really – he became a lonely, and confused soul, and I miss him. So, it means that this year there will be an empty chair at my mother’s house... Something we’ve not dealt with before, and it’s heartbreaking, despite the festivity.
Every year at Christmas, we have a friend come and stay with us who might otherwise be lonely. He’s expected now, almost part of the furniture (in a comfortable way!) and we think of him as part of our family. It feels good to share what you have with someone else, even if you think you don’t have much to share. Company, especially at this time of year, means so much more than material things. Another friend of mine, who would be completely alone, has been invited to share Christmas with some kind friends of hers, which is wonderful. During the last century, Norman MacEwan said, ‘Happiness is not so much in having as sharing. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.’ Perhaps you have something you can share with someone this Christmas...
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