Grief & Gratitude At Christmas

    This Christmas will be the first Christmas without my dad.
It's been hard to navigate the thought of holidays and being the first without him. The first Father's Day, the first Thanksgiving, the first Easter and the many birthdays that we have celebrated without him. It's been a lot of firsts.

    At the same time I'm grateful, grateful for the time that I had on Earth with him. Grateful for the lessons that were learned from him. Grateful for so many incredible memories. Today has been a day of solitude for me and I've been going through my thoughts and just thinking about how much I miss him even if I don't verbalize it a lot.

    Tomorrow I will hold space for moments to think about the fact that I won't see him, I won't hear his voice and I won't get to have talks about Christmas with him. Yet in my heart I know that his spirit lives on in our family.

    If you are experiencing grief this holiday season know that you are not alone. Also know that God loves you and he's there to comfort and strengthen you during this time.

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 This year, I've learned that grief and gratitude sit at the same table. That joy can shimmer even through tears. That some days will be heavy… and others, gently beautiful. And this Christmas will be both.