This has been a good Thanksgiving for us. Four of our five children are home and with their spouses/significant others in tow. One son, his wife and three grandsons, healthy but too far to come. I’m so glad that we still have our children, and that our relationships with them are good. I’ve spent so much time alone in the past three years, their presence is more meaning than usual.
But I write because my mind is with those with empty chairs. Most of us at my age has lost someone. For me, my parents, brother, and my sisters too far away to see. But for many people, the holidays is a hard time. An empty chair representing traumatic or acute losses. No, it is not like the Thanksgiving they remember. I feel their pain as best as I can. I wish I could comfort those hearts. Some are completely alone and it is for them I feel the most sorrow. Know that you are on my mind and heart. God grant them mercy in this hard time.
J. Michael Jones 