Hi,
Welcome back.
This year holidays are different.
Different because our world is changing.
We are in the midst of a pandemic that is causing many families an opportunity not to be together for many different reasons.
Some through distance,
Some through time,
And others just from lost.
I wanted to offer you an opportunity to just come and be mindful.
I just wanted to remind you that there's always beauty from ashes,
Love from pain.
And for those of you experiencing mourning on today,
I wanted to hold a space for you that says I see you and I hear you.
I am with you.
So right now I offer you to take a deep inhale in for four seconds.
Hold for two.
And now exhale through the mouth for four.
Are you ready?
Yeah.
There's an empty chair at the table again.
For some of you,
This may be your first time experiencing this.
Or if you're like me,
It's your second time.
But I can tell you like those experiencing their fifth,
Their tenth,
Or even their twentieth time around the same morning that the emptiness never goes away.
It's always there.
So although I'm still new to this,
What I have to share with you is to let it in.
Welcome it in.
Make a setting at the table.
Pull up that empty chair and honor what was,
Who she was,
Who he was.
Those tears may come and awkwardness may too.
You'll soon find that the emptiness by any other name is just love.
Emptiness for us feels like a void.
But all voids aren't meant to be filled.
Some remain as they should remind us just how deep our love can go.
It is always there to remind us,
To bring us back to the memory where we need it most from those who love this most.
So in today and any other day,
Don't be afraid of the empty chair.
Welcome it to the table.
Prepare a setting and know that love will soon fill the room.
The pain you may feel or the tears you feel rise.
Give them the space they need to just be there with you,
To release from the void.
All feelings need to be experienced.
It's the only way.
