Don't Tell Me I Can't…...Spend The Holidays Alone

For writer Jacqui Deevoy, the festive season is a time for peace and quiet

- Jacqui Deevoy

When I tell people it’s a choice to spend every 25 December alone, with just myself for company, I always spot a few raised eyebrows and sideways glances. After all, I have four children and a grandchild, and I can tell what people are thinking.

If you’d told me 20 years ago that I’d be spending Christmases alone in my 50s, I’d havefelt sorry for the future me. But when I say I’m happy locking myself away until it is all over, I genuinely mean it.

Growing up, I always spent Christmas with my mum, dad and brother. We had the same ritual every year. Mum and I would go to the market in town and choose a tree and, because we didn’t have a car, we’d always bring the tree home on the bus! At home, mum and I would set it up and decorate it. My dad would untangle the fairy lights and my brother would watch.