On Friday, one of my students lost his father to a sudden heart attack…a 47 year old Dad passed away. It was a day for getting projects finished up at school. It was so busy! Book reports and paragraphs…everything done so that the family could leave early for a Christmas vacation in Italy…perhaps an audience with the Pope….the Vatican…art museums…excitement and together-time!
I had just finished reading his paragraph titled "Memories" some time before I received the news. I had read it while being wrapped up in my red sofa, with my black marking pen in hand. I had made a brew of spices and citrus on my stove top in order to fill the house with the scent of Christmas….incense really…beautiful warm and healing incense surrounding us. It was an honest paragraph about my student’s Grandfather and what he meant to him…what it meant to lose him…the love he would always feel…and the comment that, "It was the saddest time of my life." Sigh…
I had planned on having a pretty busy social weekend…one filled with company and events…but all of that came to a halt. I just needed to gain a clearer perspective. I needed to take a breath….I needed to talk with my children when I could and sit back and watch movies and just ‘connect’. I needed voices over the telephone…my mother…my friends…I needed to reaffirm my love for others and to be deeply grateful. What a week for struggles and difficult news! My prayers lift up for people suffering loss when everything should be lights and Christmas magic! It is difficult to blend the promise of a new tomorrow with the everyday struggles that can present themselves today. I thank God for my good health and the health of my loved ones. I treasure, however distant physically, the people who live day-by-day in my heart!
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