Christmas when someone is missing can be a tough gig. Robin Bailey wrote about the lead up to her second christmas since her husband’s death on Mamamia. While Christine Rasmusen on Second Firsts had some great advice for those struggling to deal with the holiday season.

This year was our second christmas since we lost Simon.For the first time we hosted Christmas at our house without him.  I’m fortunate that my daughters are old enough to help but it still feels like you are a man down as you clean, shop and move furniture about the place. Not to mention the emotion involved in the fact your loved one is not here.

My natural tendency is to go overboard when hosting, normally I would be making numerous dishes and doing a lot of last minute preparation. This year in what can only be described as a monumental change of personality I managed to get the Christmas table up and decorated THE NIGHT BEFORE. I know, I have no idea who I’ve become either.

I made a Prawn Cocktail platter which I nicknamed the deconstructed prawn cocktail which was a hit. It came from a Women’s Weekly Cookbook Eat, Drink, Share which I saw extracted in a magazine but can’t seem to find the book itself anywhere.

It was a lovely day and which nicely encompassed how we are moving forward while still remembering what used to be.