I lost a very dear friend of 40 years earlier this year out of the blue. He was super fit and well , went out for a bike ride with friends had a massive heart attack and sadly passed away . He , another 8 great friends and ex work mates and myself met regularly to go out socially , two weekly trips to the races , we were due to all go to Spain in June and that was of course canned, and now if we ever do get to meet up there will be an empty space at the table .
The Funeral was just awful because of the sheer sudden element of his demise we couldn't go into the service and had to stand in the grounds of the crematorium to listen to the service on a single inappropriate speaker and we heard basically nothing . There was of course no wake because of the Covid rules and it just leaves you with that empty feeling which will of course be even more prevalent at Christmas.
Whilst it was truly awful for my friends and I, it is a pale shadow of the 63,000 plus empty spaces at tables around the country that have been rendered so by this awful virus . All we can do is to sympathise with all the families and loved ones who have suffered such pain and distress this year and particularly to the members of this site at what should be a time for great Celebration.