Oh so lonely this Christmas without loved ones to hold

A Different View with Dave O’Connell

Back when we knew no better and friends were sad because one of their chicks was flying the coop, we consoled them with the notion that Berlin or Boston or London or Lisbon was just a flight away and you’d still get to spend real quality time together, albeit in truncated spells and only every so often.

We pointed out that you could travel from Dublin to Central London or the Champs-Élysées in less time than it took to get to Clifden.

We held up our phones and our tablets to show the glory of Skype or FaceTime that allowed you to virtually visit their new home and wave electronically at the grandkids.

Nobody claimed it was the same as seeing them stumble down the stairs every morning with their big bed-heads on them or casually heading out for a surreptitious pint of a wet Wednesday in winter.

Everyone knew that the incidental, accidental chats over telly or tea were gone, and that time zones might mean you’d have to prearrange a call time.

But the consolation of sorts was that, in case of emergency, they could get on a flight and be home in a few hours.

Only now we know that’s not true – and that’s why the full impact of this coronavirus has now fully hit home.

That may seem strange, given that so many have died from COVID-19, and a multiple of that number have been sick.

But life is only worth it when you can live it – and spending time together as a family is the very essence of that.

Parents had long reconciled themselves to the fact that there wouldn’t be too many transatlantic returns this Christmas – and those whose fledglings have made their homes in New Zealand or Australia were already used to that reality.

But London and the UK have been just another short commute for so many, as our best followed the bright lights, making the big bucks in technology across the water and thinking nothing of flying home for the weekend if they wanted to.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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