Not really in the same league but this year will be the first that we won’t have all our immediate nuclear family together over Christmas. My son is 21 and this year he will be spending his holiday with his female penfriends family…in the US of A, though I expect a phone call will be made ( from this end if not that end).
As a father I’m glad that he has the spirit of adventure, and the get up and go, to do these things but am also reminded that my wife and I will soon be spending more and more time with our own company.
This year will be hard on my 13 year old daughter as one of her best friends, also 13, died this year so I will be giving her a bit more time than past years. Of course this may well change when any grandchildren arrive.
How about we all share a toast, silent if need be, for those of our colleagues on their own when we sit down to have our dinners with our own families, however extended they may be?