Let's raise a glass

[Hobnobswantshernameback]

I always start this thread on Christmas Eve.
Helps me to take a deep breath and just be for a second.
I'll raise a 🥃 to my dad. It's been too many christmases but I still wish I'd known you better before dementia stole you x

Sorry about your Dad. I lost my Mum to it in July. And I lost my beautiful horse in October.

So I'm going to raise a glass for them both. I wished him a merry Christmas as I put my head over thr door of his empty stable earlier.

Mum is with us in the lounge in an urn and I have her and Dads pictures pride of place in the fireplace.

Thinking of everyone this Christmas who has lost someone or 'something'special this year ❤️‍🩹 J and L, I will never forget you x

To my wonderful brother who loved Christmas so much. He was the life and soul of our family christmases until he was cruelly taken so suddenly in August 2024.

I miss him all year but it is particularly hard at this time of year and it feels so wrong that his light which shone so bright was extinguished so quickly. Life really is very fragile!

Thinking of everyone missing someone this Christmas🫶

Raising a glass to my mum, gone 21 years but still loved and missed deeply. ❤
And to my niece, tragically killed 2 years ago, aged just 21. Forever young 💔
And to old friends, G and D, who both showed me tremendous friendship and kindness for many years.💕
Gone but not forgotten x

I'm very sorry for your loss @Hobnobswantshernameback . I hope you are with loved ones who remember your Dad, this Christmas.

I'm also raising a glass to my dear Dad this year. A shot of Bailey's actually, he would approve 🥹

Lost to severe frailty and dementia in July 2024. May his spirit be flying free 🌟 It was always the two of us together on Christmas Day and each New Year's Eve ❤️🎄

What a lovely thread, shows how deeply this season affects those of us who are feeling the pain of dear ones departed....
A very small glass of sherry (as that's all it took her to get tipsy 🤭) to my long gone mum, who made Christmas so very special to the five kids she raised on her own. Thank you mum. I never appreciated it enough, until I found out just how hard it was with one !
A wee dram for my brothers, such a huge loss in our family. One to suicide, one to cancer. Cheers bros ! Not in pain now.
And bubbles 🥂 or bevy of choice to all you lot, thank you for sharing 💐
My heart is very full.

A glass of red 🍷 and a pint of bitter 🍺 for my dad, passed May 2019 and a cinzano 🍸for my mum, lost January 2023. Thinking also of my nan and in-laws.

Sorry for everyone’s losses on here.

Mum and dad 🥂

🥂 For my mum, it will be 2 years without her on the 29th December, the first Christmas last year without her was hard but this year we have a new addition in my 4 month old son who I know she would have doted on as she did my now 4 year old daughter! Raising a glass to her tonight knowing she is always with us!

I’m so so sorry 💐

For L, my sister in law who died suddenly and traumatically in September. We all miss her so much and just trying to support my brother and their children through all these 'firsts'.

Also to V, my son's friend, who took his own life at the end of September. Far too young.

🍷

Im so sorry for all the losses here.

My glass is raised to my mum and dad. I hope you can see the boys, from where you both are xx

A glass of champagne not only to lost and deeply missed parents but to my friend who is dying right now after fighting so hard. Again, cancer.

@Hobnobswantshernameback this is a beautiful thread, thank you for starting it💐

I’m so sorry for all those missing someone special this Christmas, it’s really tough and I hope you all have time and space to remember your loved ones🫶

I'll raise a glass for my lovely Dad who died earlier this year and my Mum who died a few years ago. Their first Christmas back together which brings me comfort. I lit candles for them in church yesterday and said a little prayer for them. So many lovely memories of them.

I’ll raise one to my son in the military

For the family of my donor. My 11th year of extra life, and your 11th year without your loved one.

And he’s not home for Christmas, in a dangerous place

One of the only positives about losing my sister in law is that she donated some of her organs so three other people have benefitted from them.

I wish you a long and healthy life ❤️

Goodness me this really stopped me and made me think about those lost babies

For me it’s my mum I miss her so much but she had a good life and longer than many mentioned here.

And those mumsnetters who have left us, BOF, biscuits, twitter queen, zombie and I know there are many more. Hopefully others will remember their names…

I’ll raise a glass for my father. We had a difficult relationship but, as I’ve grown older, I’ve realised that his life must have been very unhappy - and I feel heartbroken for him. I probably never told him I loved him - but I do.

Also for John, who was a truly amazing man and was taken too young.

Also for another friend/partner (and his mum). His life was so difficult as was our relationship (especially in the last years). I just hope he knows that I did love him and he was a very important part of my life for almost four decades.

I will raise one to my lovely dad, who died last year. He will be having a single malt whisky

It's a glass of tomato juice I'm raising for my dad, his favourite. My first Christmas without him

@Hobnobswantshernameback I think lots of us appreciate this thread every year, as a way of sharing the weight of grief that we carry, and for having the opportunity to remember loved ones, alongside others who just get it.
So thank you x

❤️

A glass to all of you and your loved ones both here and departed, and to my loved ones here and departed, and everyone else. Some may have had an amazing year, some may be glad to see the back of it, but regardless of which one you are, a Merry Christmas to you all, and a healthy and happy 2026 🍷