greenbean casserole

Set it on the kitchen counter, ok?

On most Saturday mornings, Christy puts on a pot of coffee and invites us over to chat. Today, though, it’s our turn to offer some very special FDL love to Christy and her family in the loss of her husband’s mother this week.

We lean on each other so much here that it has become a real community of shared joys and sorrows. We offer Christy, her husband, and their family our deep sympathy, our hugs, our spiritual energy, and our flowing love as they go through this terrible loss. We are with you.

When people in our own neighborhoods suffer a loss like this, a lot of us would bring over a casserole, so that the family wouldn’t have to worry about cooking for a while. Today, I’m asking you to bring a virtual casserole (or other comfort food) to Pull Up A Chair, since it’s what we would do if we all lived in the same physical community.

Bring your favorites here, either a description or the recipe, for her family to contemplate, and maybe some of those recipes will become favorites of her family in the future as they remember the community who loves them.

We all grieve in different ways. At its worst, grief can nearly knock people down physically, and it can be hard to endure one hour to the next. It can be hard to imagine why the sky is still blue — does it even matter? And how can people go on living normal lives all around us? Don’t they understand that everything is different now?

In mourning we often need an unknown combination of time alone to contemplate and then time to be surrounded by others who care for us. It can be difficult for others to know what is the right thing to do or say. But it’s always right to show that you care, that you are there for each other. A simple "I’m sorry for your loss" or a hug can be more healing than you imagine.

One of the loving ideas that comes to us from the grieving family is that they are asking, instead of flowers, for folks to donate to their own local library — libraries being a lifelong passion of Christy’s mother-in-law. I am going to pass this idea along in my own circle of friends and family.

We’re at a physical distance from each other: Christy in the east, other family in the west, and firepups all over the globe. Even so, keep Christy and her family with you in love and in spirit this morning. She does so much for us, and today we can return her hospitality as we surround her and her family with our caring.

It’s been a rough time for Christy, her husband, and The Peanut as they’ve dealt with all of this. Christy may join us in the comments this morning, or she may decide to sleep in and check out the comments later on. Either way, please come on in, set your casseroles on the kitchen counter, and pull up a chair….