I'll be alone this Xmas, which I'm not overjoyed about, but I don't really buy into this idea that if you're alone at Xmas then it's particularly worse than it would be at any other time. And my fate isn't down to my having permanently lost all my friends. It's just that my wife has got to go and look after her mother who has terminal cancer and currently needs watching over round the clock, and it's currently my wife's turn for that.
I suppose I could go too, but I'd have to stay there for several days, which would be pretty uncomfortable for me because her dad is deaf and has the TV on at full volume, and I don't want to get into a problem with my wife's parents about my not going to church. There's really very little there for me in terms of stimulating company - my wife doesn't do a bad job when we're alone together but when she's with her relatives it's a different world, and not really one I can relate to very well. I'm not qualified to drive so I can't come and go as I please, the distances are too long for walking.
So I've not opted into that, and as far as I'm concerned I'm better off alone. There'll still be audio / video calls with my wife and very likely with my son, and I've got social media and emails for some approximation to company. And our two cats can be something of a comfort, and looking after them and doing a few general household duties helps to give me some kind of purpose. And I think I've just about got my laptop capable of multi-track recording to a reasonably professional standard, so I might be able to take advantage of the free time by recording a song or two with guitar, voice, and whatever drum machine and synth sounds I can get working, which is something I'd been doing most of my life in the UK using better equipment than I have here, as a very socially-acceptable and fascinating special interest, so I'm kind of looking forward to getting involved with that, as long as it doesn't turn out to be a spectacular failure.
So I guess I'm going to be OK. The spell alone won't last forever, and like I say I don't really buy into Xmas being anything particularly significant, I prefer to enjoy every day of the year.
Last edited by ToughDiamond on 23 Dec 2021, 2:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.