If you are separated or divorced, you know only too well, how difficult Christmas can be. There is the idealized image portrayed by glossy magazines and TV adverts. The image of happy families opening presents under the tree and sharing fun and laughter around a table piled high with food. The reality is a little different. Few people if any have anything like that sort of Christmas. Christmas, though, can highlight all the feelings associated with separation and make feeling alone and isolated more acute. Children shared between households, can also be painful especially if you are used to being all together. I think it is important to try not to be seduced by how fabulous everyone else’s life is and remember that nothing is that ideal. Loss is painful but good things can come out of it and Christmas is only a day. Try to concentrate on making it work for you, by making sure that you are busy if you want to be or that you have some good DVD’s and nice food lined up if you don’t. 2012 will blow out with the weather and 2013 will blow in with fresh possibilities and a new start.
