Before reading ahead, please know that article may be a potential grief trigger.  Usually, at this time of year I would be writing articles on having a minimalist Christmas, or why I don’t bother with New Year’s resolutions. Instead, I’ve been taking a break because last month I found myself dealing with something which still feels like a nightmare: the loss of my dad aged 74.  Dad had been in and out of the hospital with low oxygen, and the last time he went in we were all expecting him to be treated and discharged like the times before. He’d not long received diagnosis of COPD; a progressive disease of…