I promise I am not being smug when I say this

[ChangedmynameagainforChristmas]

I had a lovely day yesterday. My family came round and we went for a walk with the dogs, and we had a meal together and the children played and the dogs played and we had fun.
I received a wonderful dressing gown (the sort you dream about) and a pair of slippers and all of my gifts were gratefully received.
Today I am slowly tidying up and sitting with a cuppa and reflecting on my lot.

Five years ago on Christmas Day I sat outside a chapel of rest on the path with my back to the wall where my son was inside. I never thought I would be happy again.

My children and my grandchildren were here yesterday. It's all you need really.
I know family can be annoying at times especially at Christmas when people behave badly but I would rather have a bad Christmas than one without the people I love.
So never mind your mother/sister in law (insert name here) with her shitty present that she wants back :) Go and give her a hug because she is still here and that's what it is all about.

you can appreciate those you wish to, whenever you like!

I'm really glad you are where you are after such times

now, I am curious about the dressing gown of dreams...

is it one of these?

www.shibumistyle.com/collections/reversible-dressing-gowns

Thank heavens for common sense!

Op your post was obviously well intentioned. I am so sorry for your loss. And it is very encouraging to know that one can come through the most dire of times and reach a contentment of sorts.
I think we all need reminding from time to time that despite all of the Christmas stress, it is people that matter most.

@ChangedmynameagainforChristmas,

I am so sorry for your loss but your post is beautiful. I have lost both parents in very recent times and although we had a difficult relationship, I am able to reflect on the positive.

I am glad too that you have peace within yourself at this challenging time of year. It is good to know that it can be achieved despite negative experiences.

That's so lovely to hear both as one human to another, but also as someone recently bereaved, muddling through that first Christmas, feeling both bereft and grateful for the rest of my wonderful family who are still here.

Lovely post, op, I'm glad you had a pleasant Christmas and hope 2023 will be a good year for you and your family. x

Not smug at all @ChangedmynameagainforChristmas , and quite a breath of fresh air after seeing all the miserable, doom-laden, ungrateful, grabby threads and posts on here this past 1-2 days. Soooo many people moaning and crowing, nothing is right, everyone around them is shit, (and making their lives miserable,) no-one has bought anything they like, and they hate their whole family. So many miserable ungrateful people on here!

You sound lovely!

I ALSO had a great day with DH, and saw our 2 adult DC for an hour in the morning. (we had a big buffet at ours last week, and weren't going to see them Christmas day, but they popped in for an hour with half hour's notice, and it was lovely.) 😍 DH bought me some lovely gifts and so did DC - and my friends too. Very happy yesterday, and after DH went to bed at 9.30pm, full of Christmas food, I sat there with a glass of port, and some savoury nibbles, doing puzzles in a Christmas puzzle book, and put the DVD of It's A Wonderful Life on!

Today me and DH have been for a 2 hour walk, and around 7pm, we are going to have pizza for dinner, and a big bottle of wine!

I'm so glad you had a lovely day.

What dressing gown is it? <Christmas money burning a hole in my pocket>

Your were sneering. Your post was a more than transparent mockery that a dressing-gown could possibly be someone else's yardstick for joy.

Given the content of the thread it's a low blow, and it's one I would be ashamed of aiming. Predictable that the sort of person who makes this type of comment would go on the attack when someone else points it out for precisely what it is.

I hear you OP. Sometimes we forget how much we care. Hope your Christmas is going well.

Spot on.

It's pathetic to try and claim otherwise when it's there in black and white.

@Cheerfulpedantry yes they clearly do, but I hope your sneery comment made you feel great

This is the dressing gown my daughter bought for me :-
www.bouxavenue.com/dw/image/v2/BBFD_PRD/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-bouxavenue-master-catalog/default/dw17858942/210042_30LL_0_%208.jpg?sw=680&sh=918&sm=fit

Oh OP ❤️ What a beautiful thread. ❤️ Thank you.

Your post has made me smile OP

This is so heartwarming. Feel free to tell us about your son @ChangedmynameagainforChristmas if you feel up to it?

My adult dss got me a posh dressing gown as one of my gifts. It's amazing and so snuggly. So I get the joy 😊

My son died in a car accident in 2017. He was killed instantly. That's the only comfort I have that he died so quickly. He was my youngest child, only 24. I think about him all of the time. These days I can talk about him without crying. You just find a way of living with the grief. It does not go away but I carry on and remember things and talk about him and feel grateful to have had him in my life.
I now have three grandsons and the oldest one reminds me of him a lot and it makes me smile when he does something daft or says something that my son could have said and my heart leaps a bit.
Merry Christmas to you too x x

Thank you for telling us about him. I have a friend who lost a dgs who she brought up then his DM died the same way. Mh illness so you can probably guess. She's so grief stricken. I try to help and remind her she has family who need her but she doesn't want to be here. It's tragic. There's hope hearing your story. I think there's so much guilt with her as it hadn't been easy before.
Keep on finding happiness where you can he will want that ❤️

Dear OP, I'm so pleased you have managed to find some joy and peace after such tragedy in your life. Your post is heartbreaking, but it's also heartening that it's given some hope to others of a life afterwards, even though that life will never be the same.

@CuriousMama, I'm sorry about your friend. My friend's four month old son died back in 2014. She lost some friends, sadly, because they were unable to accept that she wasn't her old self anymore, and for a time she seemed broken. 8 years on and two further children later she's in a far stronger place but still sees her child as a major part of her life and talks about him often. I'm always happy to listen and never send cards etc without including the little boy's name - she wants this because she chooses to keep him in the present and doesn't want him forgotten. He was just two weeks younger than my own son.

OP, your dressing gown is lovely! My own particularly loved comfort item is a pair of sheepskin slipper boots. Received them one Christmas and I'm now never without a pair. These little luxuries mean a lot, and I can see why it made you so happy 🌹🌹🌹

Thank you. I feel like a Disney Queen in it !

Very happy for you op.
I was the most content I've ever been this Christmas Day. Not sure why. Shouldn't have been-crappy year, health problems for me and family amongst other things but for some reason it just was so lovely. Dh and I did everything we had to do and still found time to sit together and just have a laugh.

@Mogloveseggs

Yes. It's because Christmas is about the people and not the gifts, and some of us totally get it because we have lost a loved one and know the pain.

This year family have been here on and off eating my out of house and fridge and having fun. Last night my daughter and grandson stayed here. We were having cocktails and watching him dance and lark about. At one point we were laughing so much I nearly had an accident 🙄
Today I am chilling, drinking tea eating toast and reading MN. I feel blessed.