Another Snowy Day

Another January morning, the snow lightly falling and my house quiet and warm. One dog is up and a husband is still sleeping. Another January day unfolding. This day a memorable, difficult day for the Barr family. I hold each one in my heart and know the challenges this day will bring. They will celebrate and honor the husband , the father , grandfather and great grandfather they have been called to say goodbye to. They will rejoice in the love of family , friends and a community who will gather to share this day with them. But they alone will take their sorrow home and somehow find a way in the next days , months, and years to live a life with a hole, a loved one missing, a new normal as they say. A beautiful wife sat yesterday receiving the kind words and gestures while knowing how dramatically her life has changed. She will find strength in so many places, her children, her grandchildren and great grandchildren, her family, friends and her faith.Beautiful photographs surrounded her speaking of the love she was blessed with. That love will not fade.They looked like movie stars with a storybook love story and indeed that is what they lived. Their story held all the parts a good story holds; love, loyalty, devotion, service, kindness, sacrifice and gratitude. A happy ending for sure despite the sadness this day will bring. The sadness of separation and death but the legacy of the love they nurtured and treasured.If in fact I muster the courage to drive in the snow( an unreasonable fear of mine) I will sit and bear witness to the type of love we all want in a good story. The price of that love is sorrow but the pay off is the circle of love that remains when one link is broken. The Barr family is such a circle.