Grief and the Holidays - Part I

Topic: Life Lessons

The Empty Chair

The most gut wrenching reminder of what used to be, what could have been, but what will never be the same again is an empty chair at Christmas dinner, especially if it wasn’t empty the year before… or the year before that… or 10 years ago for that matter. I don’t mean empty because someone decided not to come, which happened to us in 2020 when a large portion of our family decided not to come for Christmas because the COVID vaccine was not available yet, and they didn’t want to take the chance of spreading a virus that had a 99% survival rate. Never mind that none of us are promised another minute, another hour, or another day, and there’s no guarantee that everyone would be alive and sitting at the table the following year. I won’t go any further down that path or I’ll get myself into trouble, but I know many of my readers can probably relate.

The holiday season is just never the same when loved ones have passed onto the next life and they’re not here to open gifts on Christmas morning or to help cook that special Christmas Eve meal. If this is your first holiday season without someone you love, I get it. The pain is so raw that it sometimes feels unbearable… can even take your breath away at times. If this is your second holiday season without someone you love, I get it. Sometimes the second year is worse than the first. And if this is your 10th holiday season without someone you love, I get that too.

The First Empty Chair