In The Christmas Spirit

December for me is always one of the most special times of the year. I love Christmas completely and always have since I was a child, blessed to grow up in a loving working class family home. The memories of my mother and father getting into the full swing of preparations are as clear as ever and those traditions are still upheld every year including the newer members of the family.

Traditions and Memories

My father arrived one day proudly holding a metal food mincer with carefully saved Green Shield stamps to make the mincemeat for copious amounts of sweet pies, and two very large old fashioned sweet jars that were filled with pickled onions and vinegar and then tucked away from impatient childhood fingers and mouths until the day itself.

Christmas puddings are still made under the guidance of my mother which is an annual event for the family. Each family member has a task, something to bring to the large bowl on the kitchen table and then each  stirs and makes a wish before the mixture is spooned into portions for the steamer. Pungent aromas of tangerines, walnuts and brazil nuts still transport me back to a time when my father would turn on his favourite  programmes on the black and white TV and munch his way through the Christmas supply, his large hands squeezing the nutcrackers while we children would duck down to avoid the flying debris!

Early December is also the month of my father’s birthday and only after then would the garlands and trees go up in the house to the sound of Perry Como’s Christmas album on the record player and sherry for the adults. Another tradition we still hold close.

These beautiful memories are gifts from the past to warm the present, especially at this time of the year when Christmas can be a time of magic and wonder but also sadness for those who are physically without those they love, and especially if it is the first or recent one.

The Spirit of Christmas

Loved ones in Spirit are aware of the time of the year and will have their own memories too.

It is a time when they draw especially close to be with those they love, knowing that their presence is needed and which can often be felt. There may be ‘coincidences’ that are never coincidence, songs on the radio that have words of comfort when needed the most, a photograph of the loved one which may have moved without being touched, smells that are not physically present but relevant to those who have passed.

These are all gifts of love from Spirit which may go unnoticed in the busy-ness of the festive season but can be enough to greatly ease the pain of missing someone if they are received and acknowledged.

I do believe that sometimes it is easier for Spirit to be close to those they love than for the loved one in the physical world to feel them, but they will be there out of the pure emotion of love and will do everything possible to  make that known.

Celebrating the life of loved ones, especially at this time of the year can help to bring a sense of poignant joy through the conversations and memories of special times together  and can be the bridge between two worlds running parallel on a different vibration where Spirit are all around us, and not in some far and distant land where they are separate from us.

My father passed to Spirit almost thirty years ago and there are others now who are with him who we love and physically miss, but the smell of cigars and Brut aftershave will always be with me when I think of him, especially at this time of the year…..and I am always looking out for low flying nutshells.

Just a Thought Away

If you are missing someone this Christmas reach out with your words and thoughts and they will be heard. Let the memories make you smile and give thanks for those who have shared your life and who have gone on ahead temporarily but can still remain close and loving with their energy.

Wherever you are and however you are spending Christmas I wish you a loving and peaceful time , remembering that those you love in Spirit are only ever a thought away.

Merry Christmas,

Love Donna Xx