If you turn on the TV or scroll through social media at this time of year, it’s impossible to avoid the bombardment of images of happy families jostling for space around the Christmas dinner table. But for those of us who are grieving, those cheery tableaux – from supermarket adverts to Instagram galleries – can serve as an unwelcome reminder of exactly what (and who) you might be missing this December.
When someone you love dies, you soon learn that bereavement doesn’t follow a neat timeline. Your feelings don’t conveniently fade into the background just because we’ve reached what is supposed to be the most wonderful time of year, and everyone else would feel a lot more comfortable if you could just stick on a smile and perform. “Grief doesn’t respect the fact that it’s Christmas and you feel you ‘need’ to be happy,” says Ruth Cooper-Dickson, a trauma-informed grief coach.
