As you might imagine, Christmas wasn't the same for the Morris family this year. We thought about how joyful the holidays of 2009 were as the family continued to celebrate Lindsey and Greg's engagement along with the rituals of the holidays.... Christmas Eve Service at church, my parents spending the night, brunch with our good friends Curt and Jo Marie Jones and their children and a big family Christmas dinner.
Our hearts continue to ache as we mourn the loss of Lindsey. I am reminded of a quote of C.S. Lewis, "The act of living is different all through. Her absence is like the sky, spread all over everything." I could not sleep Christmas Eve. Lindsey was on my mind.
Christmas traditions were altered this year. Those who were up to going to church, went... my parents spent the night, Santa arrived and we opened presents.However, the trees were not decorated, no stockings hung on the mantel. We surpassed on the annual brunch with the Jones family and the big family Christmas dinner. Instead of taking time to prepare our own family meal, we volunteered at Emanuel Community Center on Friday and Saturday. Friday we set-up, decorated and wrapped presents. Saturday we served a sit-down meal to approximately 300 people in the community. Todd in his tuxedo pants and white shirt, Hannah in something similar, taking orders, filling plates and serving others. It's the type of thing Lindsey was so good at... it came naturally for her.
During this time we are reminded of the Bible verse... "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." I'd add to this, blessed are those who learn self compassion during times of grief, for they shall go on to discover continued meaning in life. Death puts life into perspective.
Part of the self compassion for the females in the Morris/Jackson/Jenkins family will be a girls weekend get-away at the Lodge of the Four Seasons, the first weekend in January. We'll spend Saturday in the Spa and the rest of the time doing whatever we need to do to grant our self time to reflect. Part of the time will be spent mod-podging a memory table of our sweet Lindz. The boys will most likely take part in some indoor car race event.
As I close this update, I'd like to share a couple of notes from the book I'm reading:
* "Death ends a life, not a relationship"... by Jack Lemmon. This quote served as a good reminder for me to focus on the relationship I had with Lindsey.
* Borrowed Tears - You cry because your heart and soul are hurting and your emotions are tender. Your heart is broken now and anything that touches your heart even slightly may hurt. This statement explained why I'm finding myself more tearful than usual.... it's why the commercial about the dad telling the daughter to go change clothes makes me cry.
We hope our readers had a wonderful holiday with family and friends. Thank you for checking in.
No comments:
Post a Comment