Thou must use ‘how are you’ even though not wanting to know the answer at all

Thou must  not discuss  or question the Judeo-Christian deity

Thou must not ask personal questions

Thou must get your information and values from shock jocks, commercial Television … and Kyle Sandilands.

Thou must not express worries, fears or concerns of any kind

Thou must always agree that Australia is the best country in the world

Thou must deny that there is a class system and always state that we are all equal.

Thou must learn that the term “Aussie battler” only applies to the lower middle class and not to the dispossed, to the poor or unemployed single parents – They are bludgers.

Thou must call atheletes heroes and politicians bastards.

Thou must use one liners and jokes when intending to hurt, upset or abuse someone verbally.

Despite, or maybe because, feeling happy and excited about Christmas, memories creep into my head which stop me in my tracks. Thoughts of my mother who should be here, but is not, pop up more regularly and it is as if I only just realizsed that she will never be here again, that she will never experience the joy of her grand-sons, that she will never feel the sun in her beloved garden again and … that she is so finitely dead. And when, during the festivities, sadness hits at most unexpected moments, it brings with it intense griefand renewed awareness that the world will never be the same without her, that her absence changed our lives forever. And even after 11 Christmasses withouth the usual festive candlelit dinner at Christmas EveI still wake up on the 24.December incredulous that she won’t celebrate with us.
But I also remember her positive vibrancy and her wisdom and then somehow I feel better and stronger. Her memory gives me inspiration and each year I want to make Christmas a happy and lovely time just like she always did for me.