To all who've pinned on a smile today while your heart is breaking......

[bramblethecow]

Be gentle with yourself, that's all, it's not all about being strong for others, you matter too. Plan a treat for after Christmas, and know that you're not alone.

Thank you, I'm definitely heart broken here- my wonderful mum died less than 48 hours ago, but you can't entirely cancel Christmas when you have 2 young kids.

Sending my best wishes to anyone else who is having a difficult time xxx

ImNotCute so sorry for your loss

Thank you.

I'm smiling, like I always do. I miss my mummy :( I was 4 when she died, she never got the Christmases I get with my gorgeous children.

I also inwardly shed tears for my niece who should be 5 in January but never got to take a breath after being born sleeping at 40 weeks.

Tears in my eyes now. Merry Christmas everyone x

Tears silently shed for you all. How you all find strength to face nightmares such as babies dying, Parents passing, children poorly and missing, lives spent in danger I can't understand. May your road be clearer as we head to 2014 xxx

to you all

Thank you xx

yes not an easy one this year at all, lost my mum earlier this year & only just had let up from a big scare with my dad too - thankfully he's now better - phew - but it was looking very very bad for a while & DD has had more accidents & been very ill too, making getting up there when needed very hard - thankfully I made it after a few days of nail biting & made a difference too - hated leaving him more, but he had improved a lot & I'd left DH alone & Xmas stuff here too, but my mum got better, I left her for a few days for hospital appointments & then she died suddenly from a hospital infection - so my nerves have been frayed, but big improvement with DF in last 2 days & he's up & out & back to his cantankerous old self again :)

I was drawn to making a black Xmas cake this year - didnt even think about why until this morning - very fitting with how I've felt about xmas this year - though DDs smiles this morning brought light to my soul again - gotta love kids

I"ve only just seen this but thank you, My Father passed away on 25th November. Yesterday was the hardest as we had the big family Christmas celebration at my Mums,

Another one to only just see this.

My darling Dad passed away on 6 th September and I miss him so very much every single day. He was my hero xxx
We had a good Christmas in the circumstances as we all tried to do him proud but it was so hard. It was the little things - his place on the sofa, playing his favourite card game, just the fact that he loved nothing more than when we were all together. He was such a big, wonderful gentleman and I love him so much. And now I'm in tears again.
Sending love to you all x