The 10 Christmases of Jessica Warner
Hoping that title has a more Dickensian ring to it than a narcistic one - but perhaps as a more helpful subtitle, here's a round up of the very different tastes of Christmas I've had in 40 years...
From big family to lone parent, candle lit feasts to strip light beige, from turkey to ham, egg & chips, exhilarating sea dips to self pitying fireside sobs - in the last 40 years, I’ve had a variation of Christmas configurations, some more memorable and favourable than others. So, like a ghost of Christmas past, I’m here to share 10 of those tales in the hope of making you feel perhaps a little, well, more ‘normal’ - whatever that means - about however Christmas looks for you. Grab a cup of something warm, and settle in for a diary style run down of my best and worst Christmases…
Christmas 1991
This is the last time I remember my whole family being together. And when I say ‘whole’ family, I mean on my mum’s side (nan, grandad, 2x uncles, aunt by marriage, my mum and me) - as I was brought up single handedly by my mum after her divorce from my dad when I was 9 months; so, quite a one sided affair.
Sometime over the next 8 years, money, greed, cancer, scathing News of the World headlines, continents, death and stubbornness would mean this vignette of nostalgia would remain in the past - never to be repeated (along with the braces I donned below!).
I think because of this, this is the bench mark for all Christmases - almost the impossible standard set by my Nan, Gay. Her farmhouse in the West Sussex countryside was the stuff of an interiors magazine. She did Christmas (and style in general) so well, with a cornucopic tablescape - before they were even a thing - of foraged greenery and antique candelabra; a feast that started with oysters and was lit by candlelight; board games by the roaring fire and a giant sleepover with the whole family squashed in under one roof.
I’m sure I’ve built this memory into somewhat of an untouchable Christmas myth of magic and wonder - but such is the indulgence of childhood.