It’s Christmas morning 2020, the (way too big) turkey is in the oven, house is quiet as I sit here with a grand cup of tea and a bacon buttie devoured. Great Tip: always hold back half a dozen smoked streaky rashers that are used to cover the big bird and pop them in the air fryer while some attempt is made to tidy up before the final assault on the Christmas feast. Then, its Brennan’s sliced pan, butter and crispy bacon and time to sit and have some time out. Last evening I watched ‘It’s a Wonderful Life‘ and as per usual dissolved into a sobbing heap. It’s a timeless movie about family, friends and community. To me, this is what Christmas is all about. Gifts and indulgences aside, it is the wish of Christmas that we celebrate and rejoice our family bonds for those around the table, separated by distance or pandemic, or those who have gone on ahead, and wait for us, to be reunited and a family once again.
In the period of John McCormack’s lifetime almost a million Irish people emigrated across the globe. Some of these families never got to see, embrace and smile with each other again . Irish families sat around the gramophone or radio and listened to the most popular singer in the world and thought of home, especially his Christmas specials, which sang of love, loneliness, joy and family.
So if you can, and I know how tough this can be sometimes, celebrate your Christmas and as most families this Christmas 2020 we won’t have everyone around us, close your eyes for a few seconds and thank the universe for our families, then breathe deeply and smile on.
Happy Christmas.
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