Losing the magic of Christmas

When I was younger Christmas used to be the highlight of the year. My great - great granny was still alive (she reached the ripe old age of 92).

She'd been alive during the world wars - isn't that amazing? When she was 12 she had been in a concentration camp during the anglo-boer war.(a fact I would never have know about if we didn't have those family Christmas get togethers.)

The whole family would get together for Christmas, not just Christmas day, everybody would get together from around the 23rd of the month and usually stayed up to New Years.

The farm had no electricity - can you believe that? It was a part of the magic though. There's just something about candle light that's so magic. It also made for great atmosphere when we were telling each other ghost stories

All the cousins, aunts, uncles and extended family would be there. Being that we have our summer during the Christmas season we would often sleep outside under the stars.

Us kids would play outside and the grownups would sit around laughing, talking and there would be a lot of barbecues and great big farm breakfasts.

It all went downhill after Great-great Granny passed away. We still had her daughter (my great gran), but fewer and fewer people came to the Christmas celebrations.

Now my Great Gran (she died shortly after her 93rd birthday this year) is no more and the old place where we used to gather is gone. Somehow I don't think things will ever be the same again.

I miss the togetherness of the family. It was a time for re-connecting and getting to know the new additions. That time has passed and it makes me so sad.

We tried organizing a family get together, but most of them were 'too busy'. It saddens me that a year has passed and there are new additions to the family and we won't get to know them. There are little cousins that I'll never meet.

The magic of Christmas has gone for me. Now all that's left is the close family. My children will never know what it's like to lie beneath the stars giggling and laughing with your cousins.

I think it's a sign that we're losing touch with each other. Christmas is supposed to be a time for families to be together. Although my close family still get together, it's just not the same.

I've lost that magic and it saddens me so.