Remember the lonely this Christmas
Dec
Friday 13th November 2015 3.30pm
Weather: cold, wet and dark
Loneliness is a feeling that cannot be truly understood until it becomes personal. All of a sudden, there’s no one here to share your life with – your good times and your bad. No one to say ‘Put the kettle on – let’s have a cup of tea’ or ‘You don’t look to well – take it easy today’. No one to turn to and say ‘Let’s plan a holiday, presents for Christmas’ or to just go out for a walk with, or a ride in the car. No one to say ‘Time for bed – let’s lock up’.
‘Happy Birthday’
‘Merry Christmas’
Little things we take for granted when you have a partner. Family can be kind and caring, but when you have been with a partner for over 50 years, and when you know each other so well, it’s a dreadful loss when one has ‘to go’.
Some people wallow in loneliness but if you are a people person, you miss the banter. Other relatives and close friends, although well-meaning, cannot fill the void of the loss.
You have shared such happy times together – the birth of your children and grandchildren, marriages, holidays, parties, being so proud of those achievements of family near and dear to you both. It is so sad that one day, in the near future, you too will have to say ‘goodbye’ to such occasions.
Ending on a brighter note, at 81 years of age, I am so lucky that I have another chapter coming into my life – I am going to live with my daughter and her family. I hope to rekindle some of the things I have missed these last few years, after all, life is what you make it. When opportunities come along, it’s up to you to grab them while you can. Not everyone is so fortunate.
Here’s to a Merry Christmas and a happier New Year in 2016.
Joan, Rhiwbina
