mama still puts out the plate for daddy at sunday dinner. nobody talks about it. we just pass the beans around it. he's been gone eleven years. the plate is a habit and a prayer and maybe a little bit of stubbornness. i used to think we'd stop. now i think we won't. and that's ok.
Sunday Dinner and the Empty Chair We Still Set
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Sunday Dinner and the Empty Chair We Still Set
Mama still puts out Daddy's plate at Sunday dinner. Nobody talks about it. We pass the beans around it.
He has been gone eleven years. The plate is habit, prayer, and maybe a little stubbornness.
I used to think we would stop when enough time passed. Now I think we will not, and that is okay. Grief does not always resolve. Sometimes it becomes furniture — something the room is arranged around, ordinary enough to touch and sacred enough to leave alone.
The empty chair is not denial. It is how this family tells the truth without stopping the meal.
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