Turkey? Presents? Mulled Wine? Still missing something?

It’s that time of the year where we worry about if we have enough presents, food, money, snow and wrapping paper. Standing around in supermarkets gazing aimlessly at the enormous array of food and drink especially produced for Christmas, we develop an extra layer of worry about filling those gaps in our needs. Then finally, it’s here!

There we all are, sitting around the Christmas table with those people in our lives who we choose to spend the festive season with, laughing, pulling crackers, taking photographs, generally having a good time.

Even so, for many people it’s a time for deeply entrenched worries, less superficial than an absent turkey or a lack of giftwrap. This Christmas, they will, for whatever reason, not be able to be with someone they love. Be it a family rift, a missing person or missing someone who has left their lives through a broken relationship, Christmas is a time for people to remember the happy times shared in the past.

We put a brave face on it, we smile and rally and share Christmas cheer with those people around us still, but deep down in a corner of our hearts there is a longing for reconciliation or at least peace.

So, as well as all the people I will be sharing my holiday season with, I hope for a Happy Christmas for all the familes who are missing people I have been in touch with this year, and all the missing people out there who must inevitably think of their families at this time of year. Please phone 0808 800 7070 0r text 80234 to let your family know you are safe and well. Even if you want no contact, please pass on a message.

Happy Christmas Anthony, wherever you are. I pray that you are safe and warm and that you life is going well. Thinking about you every day with love.