'I learned it was okay to create new traditions': A migrant's Christmas away from home

I did not expect Irish people to be as welcoming as they were to me, to welcome me, a stranger into their home, because they did not want me to spend Christmas alone, writes Imasha Costa

I have been very lucky to be embraced by a variety of Irish families over the past few years, and I can only wish the same for other people in a similar situation as myself. Photo: Imasha Costa

This will be my fifth Christmas away from home, away from my family, away from my mother and my brother.

The weeks leading up to the festive period have always made me homesick. I miss the joy that my mother would bring with her smiles and the hidden candy canes under our pillows after we attended the midnight Christmas Mass.