It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

- By Ian FeeLakelands Funeral Home & Crematorium, Cavan

Depending on your disposition, those words either fill you with glee or with dread. No doubt we can already see trees and decorations up in some homes and towns, while in others, Christmas Eve will be time enough and then only under extreme social pressure. But, whether you’re a Grinch or an elf, there’s no escaping the season.

Those of us working in the funeral business know how difficult these days can be. Throughout the year, we sought to guide families through some of their darkest days and no amount of glitter and sparkle, no amount of festive music will dispel the loneliness they feel as they face a first Christmas without a loved one.

Christmas has long moved from being a purely Christian celebration; the Season of Good Will is marked by people of all faiths and philosophies, across many traditions and cultures. As we struggle to look past the rampant commercialism that threatens to smother every Christmas, there is the central message of compassion and caring, of togetherness and belonging, of hope and peace.

As we continue to accompany people through times of great sadness and perhaps are still working with families who are facing into what can only be a difficult Christmas, if falls to us to be even more keenly aware of the meaning of the season, to make the most of every possible act of kindness, to be less caught up in the busyness of the business and more conscious of the needs of those we work with, including our fellow staff members, some of whom may have had a difficult year themselves. The Christmas story is about following a light to find hope. Hopefully, we have, in some small way, been that light for others this year and can continue to be all the more so in the year ahead.

From all of us at Lakelands, thank you to all who have come to us throughout the year and we wish you and yours a hopeful and peaceful Christmas.