Why not make Christmas the same magic for everyone?
Christmas is approaching…
The squares, the streets, the houses, all decorated. Everything around us looks like it came out of a fairy tale. Joy days for young and old.
And yet, many people feel that they can not follow what is happening around them. They feel lonely, frustrated and emotionally distant from other people. These days, their souls are filled with intense sadness and misery.
We are talking about people living alone either by choice or because that is how life brought them. For the elderly who live forgotten in a nursing home or alone with the foreigner who takes care of them and with whom they can not easily get along. People who lost loved ones because the absence of a loved one at Christmas is more noticeable than on weekdays and automatically the festive atmosphere turns into mourning. All those who are hospitalized.
Those who were left unemployed and closed to themselves. Students who do not have the money to go back to their parents and spend the holidays alone. To the helpless who find it difficult to take care of themselves and cannot leave their homes.
A human story full of loneliness…
Among the people who live alone not by choice but because that is how life brought them, is Mrs. Thassoula Costa Ttofalli from Pervolia, Larnaca.
Mrs. Thassoula reports to ant1iwo:
"Every time Christmas approaches, I feel more loneliness, sadness and pain. My whole life passes in front of me like a movie. Such days, I think much more intensely how beautiful it would be if I had children, grandchildren and siblings…
I have been feeling incredibly lonely for years. I remember when I was little, I was always jealous, my children had brothers. I saw them playing, fighting and I was sad that I was alone. When I grew up, I used to say to my mother: "It does not matter that I do not have siblings, I will have many children and I will be happy". But a dream that never came true…
I was 1940 years old when the Greek-Italian war of 3 started. At that time, thousands of men and women were looking for a way to enlist and fight for the freedom of Greece. My father was among them. I remember him telling me that: 20.000 Cypriot volunteers were on the side of the Greeks, including 800 women. It had 40 Cypriot students in the front line. Also, 15.000 engagement rings went to the fundraiser for Greece.
My father was in Crete and he returned for 5 whole years. In the evenings he would tell us stories that took our breath away. He was taken prisoner and went through very difficult times.
He always showed us his love and he always wanted me by his side. Wherever he went, even in the cafe, he wanted me to be with him. He was holding my hand tightly and looking me in the eyes with so much love…
I knew that my parents wanted to have other children but unfortunately they did not succeed.
The truth is, I always felt lonely and I was never really happy. Sometimes, I felt like their love was drowning me but on the other hand I understood them, they could not have another child and they did not want to lose me.
When I was growing up, my mother did not accept any consuls because she was afraid. She did not want me to leave her with anything. We trembled at the idea that the groom who would give it to her daughter would not want to live with them and would take me to another village.
The years passed and at some point, as was logical, the consulates stopped. I was upset because I wanted to get married and have my own family, to have children. But I decided now that I would never get married…
But when I turned 45, a man who had 5 children came and asked me and his wife died of cancer. He was 54 years old and his children were all big and in fact they had their own families.
It was my last hope, this man was my greatest joy and I was hooked on him. In his eyes I saw true love, happiness. My first hug, the first caress. He was the first and last man in my life…
I remember when we got married, my mother did not wish him well because he was afraid he would take me to his own village.
For the first time I felt happy and I was expecting to have a baby soon but unfortunately…
No matter how much I wanted to, no matter how hard I tried, I could not have a child.
Two years after my marriage, my parents passed away. My husband and I lived together for 29 years. In 2013, however, he fell ill and on 11/5/2013 he passed away. Since then I feel completely alone, I have no children, siblings or relatives. Fortunately and thank God, his children come once a week and see me, they love me. This gives me incredible strength, otherwise I would go crazy.
My daily life always drowned me and loneliness has haunted me since I was 3 years old. When it gets dark and I close the door of my house, everything changes. The house looks like hell. Most nights, I sit next to my husband's photo and cry. Luckily they brought me a girl to take care of me, she is from Vietnam and surely her company saved me from the worst…
My desire to have a child became a nightmare and the thought of not having a brother to talk to always killed me. I wish from my soul that there is no other person who feels the same as me. I wake up in the morning and ask someone to knock on my door.
Let someone come to see me, to talk, to smile!
Remember my children that there are hundreds of people out there who feel like me! Now that Christmas is approaching, smile and give love to all the elderly. Know that a smile full of love can soften the loneliness in their souls! Someone has to make a start !!! And this principle must be done by you !!! Happy holidays my children !!! ".
Source: ant1iwo.com