Christmas blessings to one and all

Charla and I just walked home from some last minute Christmas shopping in Marylebone. Of course, we passed some homeless people along the way. I keep thinking of how sad it is that so many people will spend Christmas without loved ones beside them. My Christmas blessings to everyone who feels sad and alone tomorrow. And to those who do have something to celebrate, have a jolly good Christmas and make the most of it!

Love and loss

Found inscribed on a flagstone within a memorial in Grovesnor Square Gardens for the victims of 9/11:

"Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice. But for those who love, time is not."*

And on the awning above:

"Grief is the price we pay for love"

How poignant the mutual contradictions of love and loss, time and timelessness. Grappling with such paradoxes is part of what it is to be human, I suppose.

*Henry Van Dyke