This is December’s column, the one when I write about all of the happiness I pray that you and yours experience this holiday season. If you bear with me we will get there, but first I want to get a little personal with you. Today I feel the way that I imagine so many of your families do as they walk through this holiday season. I miss my Dad.
Looking up in the sky I see the beginning of the greatest super moon since 1948. The moon that will be brightening our skies at 6:15 am Eastern Standard Time on November 14, 2016. Huh, I see you scratching your head asking why is she talking about the moon? What does the super moon have to do with missing my dad? We’ll get there, but before we do I want to share one more thing.
Until I began writing this column tonight I could only tell you that I feel sad. I could not tell you why and this is important because I imagine many of your families feel the same way. The families you serve know that they feel sad. They know that their life and heart feels heavy. I just wonder are they like me? Are they sometimes unable to see what is weighing their hearts down? Do they just pick themselves up and keep trying.
Sure they may let people know that they are sad. They may even ask for help and kindness. The problem is that we tend to reach out to those that are closest to us and when it comes to grief the people closest to us are sad and in pain too. This is when it hits us: everyone is doing their best and the people closest to me do not have the bandwidth, patience, or ability to do more. They are doing all that they can. They are in pain and they are sad too.
When the sadness of grief is in every heart closest to you how do you find hope? For me it comes in knowing that my Dad continues to guide me. His love is not dead. Tonight when I look at the moon I will remember all of the times my Dad took us to the best spots to see the biggest moons of the year. I hear him leading my sister Jennifer and me in our car singalongs of “Shine on Shine on harvest Moon up in the sky,” and I know that my heart will heal.
As I acknowledge the heaviness in my heart I know that I am not alone. Everyone who loves my Dad misses him. They are sad too and with this sentence I hear my dad reminding me that this is not just about me. It is about all of us. He is still guiding me to look beyond myself. Asking me to see the pain that my mom, sisters and all who love our family’s Super Man feel. My dad’s love is why I know, even in our grief, that we are fortunate. We are going through this together. Through thick and thin our family, every one of us, is doing our best.
When you look at the moon I pray that you will let it remind you that you are not alone. That you will let light into your dark moments and that you will renew your efforts to bring light to the families you serve. This holiday season I pray that you will see that even in our darkest moments there is reason to celebrate.