As Christmas comes around again it will be a difficult time of year.
There are memories of happy family time, time spent watching children’s faces light up when they see that Santa has been.
The expectation on Christmas Eve is palpable, little mince pies, bits of carrot and a small tipple of something just for the large man with a snowy white beard and red trousers.
It is magic.
For those who will not be part of that magic the hurt is unimaginable.
Not only for estranged families, is this a really difficult time.
Over the last two years we have faced separation of a different kind, something called Covid has entered all of our lives. Millions of lives have been lost as a result across the world, it has left many grieving for a time they wont see again.
There are those who are facing maybe the first year of bereavement and those who know that someone they love beyond words, their soulmate may not make it for Christmas. As they tend their loved ones, as they hang on to every moment as if it will be the last, my heart breaks for them.
Meeting that special person in your life, is rare, that someone who knows you better than you know yourself, someone who answers your question before you have asked it. For many years they have been your reason for getting up in the morning, your reason for living.
Although those days may be numbered the memories will last forever.
For me it reinforces the need to live for the day, be thankful for everyone you have in your life, tell them you love them everyday. Never take anyone for granted, never put off until tomorrow, say and do everything you need to, now.
None of us know what is in store for us, as individuals or as a human race, so we must make a difference to others, be that person that makes you get up in the morning, be that person giving others a reason for living.
It doesn’t take a grand gesture, just a smile as someone is walking towards you, that smile may be the only smile the recipient has had in a long while. Buy the homeless guy/girl a coffee who has stood outside your local supermarket all year.
Pop a box of mince pies into the Foodbank, to make sure Santa is well fed.
Doing something for someone else, however awful we may be feeing, it will give you a glow deep down inside.
We may have been wronged, but it is up to us to make sure we do whats right.
Let us be that little bit of magic.
