08/27/2024
Several times each week, I have the sacred privilege of being present with families in their grief—creating music to inspire hope and healing. Today I am sure I received much more than I was able to give. For 35 minutes, this dear man shared the journey he had with his sweet wife for nearly 73 years. There was no officiating pastor, and no other speakers—just him. He chose several songs to support specific points in their story. When it was time to conclude, he said this: “We are going to finish with a rather sad song. Christmas was surely our favorite time of each year. I am already dreading my first Christmas without her and don’t really know how I will survive it.” Then he asked me to sing “Blue Christmas”. 😢
I often recall how Anne Lamont speaks of grief: “You will lose someone you can’t live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly—that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp.”