by Jennifer Ellsworth
There is an empty chair at the table this year.
It is cold, hard, and rigid – so unlike the person that used to fill it.
As dishes are passed and conversation is shared, there is an air of longing.
Longing for the way things used to be.
We try hard to remember that though the chair is empty, our hearts are not.
They are full of lessons learned, love shared, and memories made.
We will carry this love and these memories in our hearts forever.
The empty chair will be filled over the years, and the sense of longing diminished.
May this love and these memories begin to fill the hole in our hearts and the void in our lives as we move forward,
Remembering what a beautiful difference one life made.
Jennifer Ellsworth, MSW
Clinical Social Worker
Palliative Care Service
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center
Lebanon, NH
