IT'S HERE!!! AAARRRGGGHHH!!!

I’m up and I’m excited!

It’s Christmas Eve!

I’m off work, my presents are wrapped, our plans are made, the house is full of food, and I’m about to get cracking on a surprise Big Anniversary Breakfast for Philiipa, complete with decorated candlelit table and a bottle of Bucks Fizz. I love her, and I’m proud she’s my wife, and this is a small way of showing the big feelings I have.

It’s nice for me to be excited about Christmas. I never felt this way when I was a child. The main feeling of anticipation wasn’t to do with what presents Santa would bring, it was to do with what room my mum might have passed out in. My sleep was never disturbed by the sound of sleigh bells or sellotape, I was more likely to wake up to the sound of clinking glass as my older sister got rid of all the bottles. We’d probably have half the drinkers in the area round our house from midnight til 4am, as mum insisted on bringing the party home so they could go on boozing after the pub shut. Then she’d surface from bed about 2pm, mumble “Habby Chrispmas” while getting a glass of orange juice, and turn the house upside down looking for clean underwear while the rest of us tried to have a nice time. 

I’m not feeling bitter or angry or sad or damaged as I type all that. I’m just glad it’s all in the past. I love Christmas now and I throw myself into it. I don’t let the bad experiences I had when I was younger ruin what is undoubtedly The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year. I have an incredible wife, a fairly-paid (if sometimes highly stressful job), a nice house, some good friends, and a great relationship with my siblings. Things are ok. And ok is good enough for me.

I guess the moral of this story is - no matter how your life starts, you can turn it into something worth living; no matter where you’ve been before, you can end up somewhere pleasant and peaceful.

I wish you an enjoyable, safe, joyous, calm, loving, fun-filled Christmas, and I thank you for reading my blog.  

xxx

RC 24-12-16