Happy Thanksgiving weekend, friends! We traveled to my hometown for turkey dinner and visiting with my family. We had a great meal together at the local Cracker Barrel restaurant. However, I did experience “the empty chair,” since my dad is no longer present at the table. Others have a different sense of longing, after surviving one of the California fires. The empty chair can be a symbol for many situations.

A high school friend shared this blog on her Facebook feed and I would like to feature it in my blog for this week. I could not have said it any better. Well written, sweet truth, and many of us will relate to it. To quote my friend, Lynette, “We all have empty chairs.” I hope, if you have an empty chair in your life, you find this an encouragement.

The writer of the blog post shared below is John Pavlovitz, a writer, pastor, and activist from Wake Forest, North Carolina. His blog is titled Stuff That Needs To Be Said. The link follows the image below.

Holidays and Empty Chairs

I hope your Thanksgiving was filled with blessings, even if peppered with a sense of longing, of missing. I give myself time and permission feel both, and that’s OK.

Stay charming, my friends. And stay real.