Today is the First of Advent.

And that is a very special day here in Sweden. For us, it’s the beginning of the Christmas season. Daylight is very scarce this time of year, so we celebrate by decorating our homes with lots of lights. We bake gingerbread snaps, drink mulled wine and enjoy the company of our loved ones.

This year, for the first time in my life, I’m spending First of Advent without family. My family nowadays consists of my daughter, and yesterday I dropped her off at her dad’s place. It’s his turn to enjoy her company for a week.

Then, I drove to the nearby shopping mall and bought lovely new Advent stars. I spent the evening decorating my house with them.

The prettiest one is really big and cherry red, with sparkly silver decorations. It goes in to my daughter’s room.

Next weekend, she will be here again. And I so much hope she will like her new Advent Star.

I miss her.