Win a €250 voucher for Carphone Warehouse to mark Tweet 'Em Home For Christmas!

florence2

i hope we get a white christmas again this year...but only on christmas day!

MarkR

When the sell by date on the milk shows december.

pauldry

spending my first christmas with my 5 month old twins:):)

loike

On Christmas it's usually dull & grey outside but warm & cozy on the inside. The putting up of the decorations together as a family and then the countdown once up have them up. The buying and eating of mince pies two months before Christmas has actually began lol.
The smell of the Christmas dinner cooking, when the turkey is finally done trying to pick of bits to eat before it gets served because it just smells so nice.

gramo

I have had my Christmas tree up since November the 1st lol

rameire

i love being snowed in and not being able to go to work.

user1842

Muppet's Christmas Carol

bogof

This year i'm not sending christmas cards .I'm sending twistmas tweets instead.

Bravobabe

Family Friends and the Smells of Christmas:pac:

phantom60

Driving home!

gramo

For Christmas

UnknownSpecies

I've never gone drinking on Christmas day! Maybe this year

johndear

Went to a Christmas fancy dress just holding a pair of knickers. When anyone asked I said "they're Carol's"

jayom

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on the TV in the corner of the local Rugby Club!

EoghanConway

Alan Partridge in a pear tree!

Hope someone hasn't done that one already

bluugirl

Me and my sister running into the sitting room on christmas morning tearing open the presents,papers trown everywhere and then running to our parents to tell them what we got

omega42

willy wonka, ive seen that movie 20 times and always reminds me os christmas

blankguitarist

i just love getting to see my family and friends all in one place. and eating until i puke.

An Ri rua

Well,

I know a few people who are hurting these last 2 Christmases so, for anyone who needs some consoling and some heartening (and some honesty that its ok to feel sad at Christmas), I want to post this:- http://www.webhealing.com/articles/xmas.html


I hope it brings someone either the tools to help themselves or someone else this Christmas. Peace out.







Gifts, Garlands, and Grief

By Sandy Goodman



I remember our first Christmas after. It began the first week of November in 1997, three short months into our worst nightmare, but a lifetime into missing our child of eighteen years. He had died suddenly, one of those "in the wrong place at the wrong time" things, and he took our hearts with him when he left. Summer screeched to a halt and autumn came and went without our participation.

Still standing in confusion at the threshold of grief, we were stunned when the stores replaced the gloomy ghosts and goblins with sparkling ornaments and cheerful decorations. Neighbors strung lights on their houses, friends sent cards wishing us joy filled holidays, and not one person mentioned Jason's name. Closing our drapes, we huddled in our cocoon, waiting for his return.

Thanksgiving passed. I recall the empty chair, the unbroken wishbone, and more turkey than three of us could eat. There was an unwatched football game and a failed attempt at gratitude. That was our day, and it was good enough. It was inconceivable that we would ever enjoy another holiday, much less be thankful for it.

Snow fell. Carols rang out, lights twinkled, church bells pealed. Our thoughts were of Jason, fixed more acutely on his departure than on his arrival eighteen years before. Memories of prior Decembers pervaded our present. Jason ice fishing. Jason sledding. Jason's birthday. Jason opening gifts. Jason throwing tinsel on the tree, on his brothers, and on the dog. Every memory brought tears but every tear brought Jason closer to us. We found him in the pain, the only place we knew how to get to. I believe that first Christmas had to be that way. Showing up was the best we could do.

But now it is six trees, six silent nights, and six collectable ornaments later. I've learned a few things about this path I'm on and found a few crutches for when the road gets too rough. Holidays can be disabling for those who grieve. I'd like to share some things that might help:

Believe that your loved one is with you. Include them in your celebrations and in your sadness. Include them when you talk with others about old times and holidays past. If you don't mention them, no one else will.

Talk to THEM. They hear your thoughts...and if you listen, you can hear their replies.

Light candles. For six years now I have lit a special candle for my son. This year I will light five, one for each of us, living or not. Why perpetuate the myth of separation? Jason is still a part of this family.

Do good things in celebration of your loved one's life. Random Acts of Kindness (http://www.actsofkindness.org/) bring smiles to everyone involved. Buy anonymous gifts, scoop snow from a stranger's sidewalk, or light candles at unmarked graves.

Connect with your loved one who has died. Buy yourself a holiday reading with a reputable medium, take a meditation class, create a special place to go to where you can feel their presence.

Call a newly bereaved friend or neighbor and invite them to reminisce with you. Cry with them, listen to them, share your journey.

Give to an organization that your loved one supported. Make a memory tree. Buy a small tree and decorate it with tokens of their life. Don't worry about what others will think. You are solely in charge of this journey. It's all yours.

Love someone who is grieving? Lost as far as how to help them through this upcoming season? Any of the above suggestions can be adapted (i.e. give money in celebration of their loved one's life and tell them about it, make them a memory tree, buy them a reading with a medium) to fit your needs. However, there are two gifts that you can give to a person deep in the pit of grief that will mean more than anything else:

Undivided attention
Unconditional acceptance of their journey, wherever it leads them

I won't end this article with a wish that you have your merriest Christmas ever. I know that for some of you that is not possible or even desirable. Instead, my wish for you is this: That you find a quiet moment during the sometimes magical but often horrendous season upon us and relax. That you take a few deep breaths, close your eyes, and envision your friend, child, parent, sibling, spouse, grandparent, or partner. That you accept that dead doesn't mean GONE. That you send out a "Merry Christmas" and "I love you" and then BELIEVE when you hear his or her whispered reply of "I love you, too. Merry Christmas."

kupus

Ho Ho Ho..... Green Giant,
Ahhhh, ok maybe I didnt have xmas in mind!

cee_jay

wrapping the Christmas presents and putting them under the tree.
Christmas dinner.
Christmas Day night with extended family over, everyone swapping gifts, playing cards and drinking some wine

AnamGlas

Seeing the Coca Cola truck on the telly!

bonnieprince

Christmas to me brings back memories of my childhood, with carol singers in the back of a fruit & veg truck touring our parish singing the hits.

stephenhall

Hearing my four year old sister get excited about Christmas from seeing the coke ad, but most of all when we got on the bus last week the driver had a big white beard. hearing her shout and point "look Santa!" ... Everyone on the bus enjoyed it! Even Santa

Busi_Girl08

Finally saw the Coca Cola Xmas advert. This doesn't change a thing. I simply refuse to get involved with all the Christmas hy....hy....Holidays are comin, holidays are comin'....

LukyGirl

Smell of mulled wine drifting through the house as we decorate the tree ;-)

heyjude

You can't beat a traditional Irish Christmas dinner with all the trimmings

scudzilla

this always makes me laugh, O'LEARY'S KILLED SANTA!!!







But then again......

yesno1234

Tree up, lights on, chimney cleaned:D

eVeNtInE

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