Spread some joy and thanks to all this Christmas
MEMORIES of childhood Christmases stay with us for ever.
My parents’ house was a two-up, two-down with an outside toilet. And me and the kids from the street used to have a competition to find the longest icicle from the washhouse then suck on it. Nowadays health and safety would probably tell us we’d get salmonella – but it never did us any harm.
But maybe Christmas as a parent of young children is even better than it was in our childhood because everyone knows there’s a hundred times as much joy in giving as receiving.
When Jonathan and Robert were little, I used to get up at 4.30am on Christmas morning and wake them by saying: “He’s been!”
Jonathan opening Lego and Robert bashing around on his new xylophone, both dressed in tiny dressing gowns, was even more of a thrill for me than it was for them.
Christmas changes when you’re older. This year, restrictions and my arthritis mean that I won’t be singing and dancing at Robert’s house like I did in the past.
He keeps reminding me of the time I picked up a salt cellar as big as Blackpool Tower to use as a microphone, then started dancing around his kitchen island and broke into a rendition of Blue Moon – “bom-bababom ba- bomba-bom-bom...”
I might not be the mum I was 40 years ago and I might be spending Christmas Day on my own this year, but I still feel the Christmas spirit.
It’s there for all to see if we look close enough. This week it found its way to me in a Christmas card from a lady called Francine Dickinson, from Crewe, which made me feel all warm, fuzzy and very moved by her festive kindness.
Francine and I don’t know each other. But she reads this column and, like me, has arthritis.
And you won’t believe the way the card made its way to me.
She contacted her sister who lives in Wales like me and, through a chain of friends and word of mouth, she managed to get her card to a lady who lives nearby and it was hand-delivered.
That means more to me than winning the Lottery because the Lottery is just money.
The thought is much more valuable.
Christmases are so different now that even my grandkids have grown up.
I used to love looking out of the w indow on Christmas Day to see little ones with their new prams, roller skates, bikes and scooters. Now I see no kids because they’re all inside with iPads. But Francine’s real effort to spread Christmas cheer is exactly what makes this time of year so special. Anyone can enjoy it and pass it on, so let’s not forget the posties who gave us a wave when lockdown meant we didn’t see many people. Let’s send a little card to the child who coloured in a rainbow so you could put one in your window to honour the NHS. And why not thank the people who delivered your shopping when Covid kept us indoors? Think about others and you’ll be amazed how Christmassy you feel.