Other Christmases

1 The room was decorated. There were white table-cloths on the tables. The cutlery was placed, and so were the crackers. The diners took their places. Some had come specially for the lunch. The crackers were pulled, and the hats were worn. In the kitchen, the volunteer cooks set out the dishes of food ready for serving. One placed the vegetables on the plate and then passed the plate so that the turkey could be added. Once complete, the plate was given to a volunteer waiter who placed it in front of a diner. One by one, the diners began to eat the Christmas lunch. A splendid effort. A tribute to generosity at Christmas. Yet there is one reservation to be entered: the plates carried too much food. There had been abundant food, all donated, to cook. There was thus abundant food to serve. And so the plates were piled high with food. Alas, generally speaking, the diners could not cope.

1.1 I wonder if the generous cooks served so much on a plate at their own Christmas dinners, later on that day. At home, perhaps the vegetables were set upon the table, and each took a portion according to preference. In the communal dining room, perhaps there was an inclination to see satisfaction, particularly the diner's satisfaction at Christmas, as being derived from the quantity that could be eaten. 'There you are. Get outside that. It's Christmas'.

2 The two brothers, one 34 the other 28, now live in a first-floor flat, having lived all their lives with their father in a terraced house in a quiet Close. On their father's sudden death, they were required to move. Their joint income of £140 a week is derived from State benefits. In addition, they receive full remission from rent and from council tax. However, the income must then meet all other expenses, including heating and housekeeping. The elder one has been unemployed for the years that I have known him. The younger one receives income support, being certified as unfit to be employed.

2.1 I wonder how they will get on. At present, I visit, as their father was a client. But they have no claim on SSAFA or on other military charities. I can be companionable, but I cannot provide any substantial help. I will visit, of course, over the next month or two.

3 According to the young woman, aged about 26, she had fled from her marital home, with her five-year-old daughter and six-month-old son, in fear of her husband, 22, a soldier. She will soon occupy a flat, one which her father presently rents to tenants. But she will have to organise her life as a single mother, on the assumption that she will not return to her husband. I visited her before Christmas, when I was able to make a small cash gift, one which was well received. I am due to visit her again tomorrow.