Anticipating Advent

This year my Beloved and I will be traveling more than usual over the holiday season. It is the first after the death of his mother in late June. We've thought a lot about that as we've made our preparations: first over the river and through the woods we'll go to spend Thanksgiving with his brother and family, including our brand new great niece, Julia. Then, to Germany for Christmas markets familiar (hello again, Nuremberg) and new (nice to know you Berlin and Dresden). From Germany we'll return to the west coast, first to Los Angeles for precious daughter's birthday and then to Gig Harbor for Christmas with all of our 'kids'. Our hearts are filled with anticipation!

Still, the grief lingers at the edges. Momma Peggy always loved hearing about our travels and our children. She had the gift of encouragement, never letting a phone conversation end without saying how very special you were and how very loved.

Then I think of the families for whom the empty place at the table is more acute. Families in Uvalde or Colorado Springs or Idaho. Their grief is beyond my imagining. And so I simply pray that they will find comfort in knowing that their loved ones were so, so special and so, so loved. And so are they.