Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2003. Mattie was a year and half old. I was determined to capture a photo of Mattie for the front of our Christmas card that year. However, Mattie did not like sitting still. So that day we took him to both Home Depot and Lowes so that he could look at all the Christmas lights and displays. The hope was while in the shopping cart, we could snap a photo. I do not know how many photos we took that day! This was one of them. It did not make it to the front of our card, none the less, it is precious to me! Look at that sweet face looking at displays in amazement. Mattie's expression says it all.
Quote of the day: Denial helps us to pace our feelings of grief. There is a grace in denial. It is nature's way of letting in only as much as we can handle. ~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
This afternoon, I took my parents out to lunch. We go to the same restaurant every Sunday. While dining out, there was a group of 8 women sitting together. In fact, I would say there were many groups of people out and about today celebrating Christmas. Naturally while looking at these groups, what came to my mind was.... I used to be one of these people. Now I hardly know that we are in the month of December. It doesn't feel like Christmas at all in my heart or spirit.
Back to this group of women. They were noticeable because they came in well dressed, happy, and bearing gifts. They each laid out gifts in front of each place setting. They did this in a beautiful fashion. So festive and they seemed to love their time together. At one point, I happened to look over to the table, and I noticed one woman crying. She had her head down at the table and wasn't making a sound, but was visibly crying. What unfolded next was something I will never forget. One by one, each woman at the table got up. No one said a word! They just went over to the crying woman and either put their hand on her or arms around her. By the time they were finished, the table was huddled around this young woman. I have no idea what the exact issue was and truthfully that is not why I bring this up.
Why I am elaborating on what I saw was because I found it profoundly touching, and extremely meaningful. As a person who lives with intense grief and trauma, I know first hand that words can be meaningless when suffering. The actions of these women today illustrated to me their depths, sensitivity and compassion. It takes a lot of inner strength when seeing someone in pain not to say something. To deliver a platitude. My favorites (and I am being sarcastic!). I would say it takes courage and strength to just sit there in someone else's pain and to let them know you have no judgment but are there for them. It was a beautiful Christmas sight and my wish and hope is that each one of us have such a circle of friends in one's life.
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