I took this photo a few weeks ago. It was one of the colder nights of the year and all I could think about was how I wanted to take my son home with me where it was warm. Sometimes thoughts like that barge into my mind and heart unannounced and uninvited and I cannot help but experience the fatherly instinct to protect and care for my son. I know better, but that doesn’t stop those thoughts and feelings from happening.

On my drive home I had a few ideas about what I might say but as I sat down to write them my mind emptied while my eyes filled with tears. All that crossed my mind was how grateful I was for the gift that lay at the bottom of these two Christmas trees. 

Although part of my heart died with my son … leaving in my heart an emptiness because he is gone … part of my son’s heart is with me and that is what I shall carry the remainder of my days. It doesn’t fill the emptiness but I have a feeling that in time it might.

I don’t know what emotions tomorrow holds, but today I feel a certain peace in my heart – and for that I shed tears of gratitude.