And so, the end of the year is upon us. Another year over, and it seems to have absolutely flown by. 2012 promises to be a big year, what with the London Olympics, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the potential collapse of the Euro, and the Mayan prophesised end of the world!
For many of us, it is a time to relax and have fun with our families, to celebrate religious holidays, eat, drink and be merry, and recharge our batteries ready for the coming year.
However, as we drive along the roads, and see wreathes of holly or bouquets of flowers tied to lampposts, signs, fences, bollards and traffic lights, we remember that this time of the year is a very sad time for many people. People who may have lost loved ones around this time of year. For them , even as the years go by, Christmas is and always will be a very sad and painful time. People who have lost loved ones over the course of the last year may be feeling particularly emotional, knowing that this is the first Christmas they have spent without that loved one, perhaps for many years, and knowing that they will never spend Christmas with that loved one again.
Then there are those people who have found themselves out of work over the last year or longer, who are struggling to get by and don’t have the money for food, drink and presents. For them, affording every day commodities is enough of a struggle, without the luxuries of Christmas.
The release of the Military Wives Choir CD reminds us of those in the armed forces serving overseas during Christmas, and of the possibility of families receiving news on Christmas Day that their son, daughter, brother, father, mother might have been killed in action.
There are those who are homeless and sleeping rough for whom Christmas will be just another day. And of course, there are those who will be working all over Christmas because they have to, because they work in industries where people can’t just up sticks and go for three days. The police, the fire brigade and ambulances of course are the obvious ones, but all sorts of other businesses as well. IT support companies, with businesses expecting their websites to be maintained over Christmas, funeral directors in Merseyside, as people are as likely to die over Christmas as at any other time, coastguards, people on the ends of phones, electricity and gas providers, the list goes on.
So if you’re fortunate enough to be in a job where you can have Christmas off, don’t take it for granted, and if you’re lucky enough to be happy this Christmas then count your blessings. All the best for 2012 from the Brilliant Sites team.
For many of us, it is a time to relax and have fun with our families, to celebrate religious holidays, eat, drink and be merry, and recharge our batteries ready for the coming year.
However, as we drive along the roads, and see wreathes of holly or bouquets of flowers tied to lampposts, signs, fences, bollards and traffic lights, we remember that this time of the year is a very sad time for many people. People who may have lost loved ones around this time of year. For them , even as the years go by, Christmas is and always will be a very sad and painful time. People who have lost loved ones over the course of the last year may be feeling particularly emotional, knowing that this is the first Christmas they have spent without that loved one, perhaps for many years, and knowing that they will never spend Christmas with that loved one again.
Then there are those people who have found themselves out of work over the last year or longer, who are struggling to get by and don’t have the money for food, drink and presents. For them, affording every day commodities is enough of a struggle, without the luxuries of Christmas.
The release of the Military Wives Choir CD reminds us of those in the armed forces serving overseas during Christmas, and of the possibility of families receiving news on Christmas Day that their son, daughter, brother, father, mother might have been killed in action.
There are those who are homeless and sleeping rough for whom Christmas will be just another day. And of course, there are those who will be working all over Christmas because they have to, because they work in industries where people can’t just up sticks and go for three days. The police, the fire brigade and ambulances of course are the obvious ones, but all sorts of other businesses as well. IT support companies, with businesses expecting their websites to be maintained over Christmas, funeral directors in Merseyside, as people are as likely to die over Christmas as at any other time, coastguards, people on the ends of phones, electricity and gas providers, the list goes on.
So if you’re fortunate enough to be in a job where you can have Christmas off, don’t take it for granted, and if you’re lucky enough to be happy this Christmas then count your blessings. All the best for 2012 from the Brilliant Sites team.
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