Roscommon’s Age Friendly Ambassador Paddy Joe Burke is calling on local people to send a Christmas card this holiday season to someone in their life who’s living alone.
Speaking to Ocean FM during the week, Paddy Joe fondly recounted how popular the practice of sending Christmas cards used to be in Ireland: “When we were young, we’d have a whole heap of Christmas cards every year; mam would have them (strung up) on a line across the kitchen.
“It’s a lovely tradition that has dwindled away over the passing of time”, he noted, adding that he fully understands how this has come to be – “stamps are dear, cards are dear, and people busy”.
“The only suggestion I’m making to people – and it is a suggestion – would be to consider sending just one card or two to someone living alone this Christmas.”
Explaining the inspiration behind this idea, Paddy Joe recounted an experience he had with a customer while working as a barber in Roscommon town.
“It was one of the saddest interactions I had in my 52 years as a barber”, he shared, explaining that it all began when a regular customer of his came into the barbershop in early January one year.
“He came in for a ramble, he didn’t need a haircut”, he said. “As the two of us were sitting, he turns to me and says, ‘Do you know what happened to me this Christmas? I never got one card’. And with that, he broke down crying.
“This is a man in his mid to late 70s, and I looked at that man and felt guilty, because I hadn’t gotten him a card. I thought, imagine how big the impact was that you find yourself crying at the barber’s in January. I sent him a card every year after that.”
Paddy Joe Burke… Roscommon’s Age Friendly Ambassador is calling on local people to consider sending a Christmas card to someone in their life who’s living alone.
Again acknowledging that “times have changed” since the days of card-giving being a more widespread practice, Paddy Joe emphasised that he is “only suggesting sending one or two cards”.
“People who live alone, that’s who needs them the most. The rest of us who have someone else in the house are okay, but for someone living alone, that could make a huge difference.”
“Loneliness is an epidemic that’s sweeping the western world”, Paddy Joe highlighted, referring to WHO’s 2023 declaration that loneliness is a global public health concern. “And you don’t have to be alone to feel alone – you could feel alone at an All-Ireland final at Croke Park.
“But something as simple as a Christmas card, as the postman coming around, can put a bright spark in someone’s dark day, and make a tremendous impact on people living alone.”
As Age-Friendly Ambassador for Roscommon, Paddy Joe highlighted that in many cases, older people are the ones most affected: “I’m sure we can all think of a person who was particularly nice to us when we were young – maybe even a neighbour that lived up the street that might be in a nursing home now or just no longer out in the community. They were kind to us when we were young, and kindness has a long memory.
“It’s our time now to think of them, and send one or two Christmas cards if we could”, he concluded.
