The number at my Christmas table is growing ever smaller

When I imagine the perfect Christmas lunch, I think of the end of A Christmas Carol in which Scrooge turns up unexpectedly at his nephew’s house and discovers a warm family gathering: ‘Nothing could be heartier… Wonderful party, wonderful games, wonderful unanimity, won-der-ful happiness!’

Back in my youth, the Christmas lunches hosted by my father, while not exactly hearty, were opportunities to get together with my extended family – my three half-siblings, my mother and sister, my grandmother Edith, an old friend of my father’s called Vincent. Now all those people are dead, save for my sister, Sophie, and one remaining half-sibling, Christopher. Indeed, the Grim Reaper has been particularly busy these past few years. I lost my half-sister Kasia in 2018, then my half-sister Gaia last year, the product of my father’s third marriage.