Guest Writer Spot

This is my final blog post before Christmas so of course, it has to be a Christmas one. Have a wonderful Christmas all of you and a very Happy New Year. 

My Guest Writer this week is Sharon Harvey, one of my talented students. Here is a little bit about her:

I’ve had a passion for writing since I was a child. I’m also writing my first novel which I’m very excited about. Aside of writing I also like reading, reviewing books that I have read, photography, cycling and designing!

Enjoy her trip down Christmas memory lane:

Christmas With Mum

By Sharon Harvey

Mum and I loved decorating the living room when I was a little girl to make it look Christmassy. We loved Christmas. After decorating we would then bake cakes for Christmas.

‘Make enough Mince pies, because Santa likes them,’ Mum told me so we made more mince pies.

After all the baking was finished, we’d sit and enjoy the festive celebrations around us until my bedtime. Christmas Eve came and Mum would take me to bed and tuck me in, me totally excited at the thought of Santa coming. I got into my neatly made bed and fell asleep till Christmas morning. I woke up and gasped at the sight before me. At the bottom of my bed, were loads of presents that Santa had brought for me during the night. I squealed in delight excitedly ripping the paper off. Running downstairs, I discovered Santa hadn’t just stopped in the bedroom, but there were also lots of presents around the Christmas tree…

Many years later, the tradition continued and we would bake the mince pies and cakes. The only thing that stopped was the presents at the end of the bed as I grew out of it.

One afternoon baking we were making extra mince pies as usual when I casually commented that Mum really loved them. It suddenly hit me that the extra wasn’t for ‘Santa’ but for her. I stopped what I was doing and said,

‘Those extra mince pies were never for Santa were they, they were for you!’

Mum never said a word, a cheeky smirk her only reply back.

Christmas changed in 1986, when she suffered a nasty brain haemorrhage. It didn’t take her straight away, but after collapsing on the 22nd December, suffering throughout Christmas, and passing away on the 29th December, it never seemed the same again. Only now am I starting to enjoy Christmas again, and whilst I don’t do the baking now, I do have mince pies in the house and leave one out just for Mum, so it’s like she’s still a part of Christmas with me and I make sure I trim up in memory of her.

Thanks for the wonderful memories of Christmas, Mum.