December 10, 2019
I have been asking strangers, colleagues, baristas, janitors, cab drivers, and my children. What love is- I ask them if they have someone that they love and watch their face soften with the thought of them. Some of my favorite answers were: “It feels like home, joy, peace, everything.”
“It feels never-ending and perfect.” “It is definitely what we are supposed to do on this earth.” Mikey, my 10-year-old said, “It is like infinity, Mommy, because no matter what, it is always there.” Love is a beautiful thing; unfortunately, sometimes we lose the people we love- the
people who take our breath away when they enter the room, the people who we could watch silently for hours as if attempting to burn their every movement into our memory, the people who have changed our DNA- because there is no way it would be possible to LOVE someone this hard without biologically changing forever, the people who transform our life into something more beautiful then could have ever been imagined.
To those of us who have loved hard and lost big this holiday season- I see you. I can see you wince when you hear a song that reminds you of them. I see you stop talking when everyone else is discussing what they are thankful for. I know occasionally you hide your truth to protect the people around you from your grief. I see you deeply moved when someone mentions their name. I know it hurts, but I want you to know you are not alone. It is an unfortunate club, but I truly believe some of the best humans on this earth are in it. If you know someone who has loved DEEPLY and LOST big please listen to them when they need to talk about their person. It can transform a holiday season into something a little more bearable.
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