No birthday party

I really miss cooking and eating together, like people could before covid 19. It's Big Niece's 13th birthday next week, and as it's half term, we've had plenty of days we could have all met at my parents for a birthday celebration. 

But that would be a minimum of 10 people. Maybe as many as 19 of us could have been there. 

And yes, we're lucky, so far we're in tier 1 so up to 6 people could meet up. But I don't need a Maths GCSE to see that 10 is more than 6. (I don't have a Maths GCSE actually. I've got a Maths CSE, but if I wanted to do teacher training I'd need a Maths GCSE or equivalent & CSE Grade 2 doesn't count for that. I could have a GCSE Foundation pass, which wouldn't have been as hard to achieve as the CSE, and that would count. Or any O Level pass. Prejudice against CSEs, I think.)

And we're also lucky, in that my parents and my siblings and our children are all geographically close enough that we can meet. And, more importantly, we're all well. Or, more accurately, we don't have covid 19. 

But I'm still missing it. I'm missing the anticipation of gatherings for Christmas. There's no crib service with mince pies and sausage rolls and mulled wine at church this year. There'll be no chatting to people as I man the refreshment stall at the church fair, no helping children at the preschool Christmas party eat their food without spilling it all over the floor.  No eating the overcooked mince pies as we get everything ready for the big family Christmas dinner.

I'm remembering working with little Elder Son and little Eldest Nephew to make biscuits to take to the toddler group party. I'm remembering mum putting a bowl of butter on the fireguard so it softened in the warmth of the fire so she could make Christmas pudding. Or maybe it was cake. I'm remembering my sister's tree shaped cake mould and how she'd soaked the dried fruit overnight before we worked together to make the cake. I remember walking home from school with little Younger Son when he only did mornings in Reception, and making cheese on toast with him. 

I made (vegan) shepherd's pie for dinner, and Younger Son ate some! So maybe things won't be as lonely as I was feeling earlier. But this is a time of year when we start to look back at the past. And right now, it looks a lot brighter than the present.