...tis THE Season..

As Tom Waits said in The Fall of Troy: “It's hard to say grace and to sit in the place Of someone missing at the table…”

We’ve just come out of the other side of Thanksgiving, barely a belch before the rush in our attempts to fill our emptiness with buying sprees. In my small world, I’m thinking about how many people are ‘missing at the table’ over this holiday season. This season that brings so much joy and happiness to so many, brings many tears, sadness and emptiness to others. The retching pain of loss. To have a daughter who was beaten, then buried alive. A devoted mother who cared for her son, her son who’s struggling ‘on the spectrum ... to have lost a spouse after a long bout with cancer….or, a husband with “early-onset” Alzheimer’s who’s there,at the table...well, physically.
My 99 year old aunt, who passed last year, would tell me: ‘the reward for living a long life is losing and burying all your friends’...but, what’s the true value of life without love? Yet, so many times the knock of love goes unanswered. I know, at least for me, it’s important to stay faithful. ‘Knowing’ that I’ll be with those that i truly LOVE, after I die, provides some minimal comfort. Knowing that the 3 close loves of mine that passed this year , and those of past years will reunite, gives me some comfort. I have reconnected with an old friend, recently, a friend from my youth. He sent me a text message that said “ we need to get together soon, before it doesn’t matter anymore. I agreed, yet he lives elsewhere.
A few weeks later, I received a message from him “ my daughter _ , who lives in Youngstown, died. I’ll be coming in for the wake. I walked into the funeral parlour and laid eyes on my old friend. I was holding my emotions together, rather well. He and I had been through a lot together, sometimes a bit too much. He said to me “ come see my daughter”...arms around each other, we walked to the casket. So much for holding back my emotions. How long had it been since we’ve seen each other, I asked. He said “30 years”...it was 30 years too long. If you’d read this far, I’ve got to believe that you’re someone who’s answered the ‘knock of LOVE’. Maybe this Christmas/holiday season, instead of,or,in addition to shopping till you drop, you’ll LOVE till you pop! Reach out to those who you love..to those who love you...as my friend said “before it doesn’t matter anymore” .