Widower's Holiday Thoughts

I have mixed emotions this time of year. I look forward to all the memories of the past but feel the loneliness that only my late wife could fill. Christmas was her favorite holiday and we always decorated to the max! Since her passing in 2006 my decorating has been minimal. I get out the Christmas china and put up a tree right after Thanksgiving. It is now as much a memorial to her as it is to Christ, and I don't think He minds. Forty-one years of a good marriage leave many, many fond memories, but also a hole that is difficult to fill when one partner is no longer there. To all you widows and widowers who are alone I say celebrate like they are there with you, for are they not in your heart. Smile, sing, dance and have a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!