I’ve heard a lot of people say that it gets easier to live with grief as time passes. Not because you miss or love those who have left us any less but simply because you learn to cope better. I’m not sure I entirely believe that because I seem to be thinking about my Dad and my Cousin quite a lot recently. They both would have celebrated their birthdays this month with my Dad turning 72 today.

December is always a tough month for me for these reasons. It is always busy in the lead up to Christmas so I can easily distract myself but as the day slows down and the end of the month approaches, I find frequent reminders around me. There will be an older man who dresses like my Dad or a young man who bears a striking resemblance to my Cousin.

I think the saddest part for me is the thought not being able to spend Christmas with departed loved ones. My children have never spent Christmas with my Dad and he never even got to meet Heath. I am lucky that I have a close relationship with my Uncle as he is like a father to me and is another ‘grandfather’ to my children. This thought makes me very happy because growing up, my maternal grandfather lived in Thailand so I would see him once every two years and I never knew or met my paternal grandfather.

OK, I have to go as I have spent too long writing this post and I have some last minute Christmas shopping to do before I miss the delivery cut offs. I hope you are well and see you tomorrow for Day 22! Bx