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Grief at Christmas

36 replies

sellotapechicken · 25/12/2025 09:20

Sending everyone gentle hugs and love if you’ve lost someone and are feeling it.

Grief is like glitter. In the beginning, it's everywhere.. on your hands, in your hair, scattered across every corner of your life. You try to clean it up, to restore some sense of order. And for a while, it seems like you've succeeded. But then, one day, you move a sofa or open a forgotten drawer, and there it is again. A tiny sparkle that catches the light and reminds you of what you lost.
It doesn't go away completely. It settles, becomes quieter, less overwhelming. You learn to live with it, to carry it gently. And years later, when you find a bit of that glitter tucked behind a shelf, you might smile. Maybe even laugh. Because it reminds you of love, of connection, of someone who mattered deeply.
Eventually, something will catch your eye.. a photo, a favorite song, a familiar scent, and instead of pain, you'll feel warmth. That's the quiet truth about grief. It stays with you, but it changes. It becomes a part of your story, a soft echo of the love that never really left.

OP posts:
Nevertriedcaviar · 25/12/2025 12:43

We lost our darling son-in-law in April this year. There will be an empty chair at my daughter's house today. I hope they can get through the day. We miss him so much.

Sending love to all who are struggling today. It's hard.

ManyYearsHavePassed · 25/12/2025 12:53

💔

MissMarplesNiece · 25/12/2025 12:57

I was getting out all my Christmas China this morning. My mum bought all of it for me over the years. Every year she bought me a new bauble for my Christmas tree. It made me sad to decorate my tree and sad to think that she's not here to eat a mince pie off one of my Christmas plates.

Goldeh · 25/12/2025 12:59

I would usually have my parents here for Christmas, this year it's just my parent and it's almost too strange.

CocoQueen2024 · 25/12/2025 13:14

My Dad died two weeks ago. I feel numb and still cant believe it 😭

mrssunshinexxx · 25/12/2025 13:30

5th Christmas without my mum. Try to put a brave face on for my 3 young children but I miss the fun family christmases and how I miss her love and support in my life and all that she’s missing. Sucks

sellotapechicken · 26/12/2025 23:07

I hope everyone had a good day

OP posts:
MrsDoomsPatterson1 · 26/12/2025 23:15

Thank you for this it’s lovely

glitter is such a good analogy

the way it gets everywhere and places you don’t suspect

💔

Chinsupmeloves · 26/12/2025 23:19

Absolutely. We have to carry on while sobbing inside. When you've experienced harrowing grief it changes you forever, then there comes more as we get older. We learn to live with it, only because we have to, but it never goes away. Xxx

toomuchcrapeverywhere · 26/12/2025 23:27

27 years ago since my Dad died. A couple of weeks ago I saw an elderly man on the train who had exactly the same mannerisms as my Dad and it was like being punch in the stomach. I started crying and had to move carriages. It felt like he my Dad would have been like that if my Dad had got old. It just comes out of nowhere.

DH is 63, has never been bereaved - grandparents all died when he was little or before he was born, and has never lost anyone else close to him. I’m dreading how it will be when he loses his parents, who are now in their late 80s.

givemeanother · 26/12/2025 23:38

Thank you OP for this thread, and such a good analogy. This is my 4th Christmas since my brother died too young and it still hits me to my core on Christmas Day. I put on the necessary show for my kids but wonder if I’ll ever be able to genuinely shift the fug I now feel at this time of year.

I think part of what i find hard is that others forget, and understandably so as it’s not their grief…but when it’s so encompassing for me, I struggle. Waiting for the days when the glimpses of remaining glitter bring me a smile.

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