One Empty Chair

The smell of turkey filled the old house at 2300 Independence Drive on Thanksgiving afternoon. Laughter erupted out of the breakfast room as people told their stories over dinner. The television blared in the den and shouts of disgust echoed as, once again this year, Michigan lost. But at the dining room table, there was a silence. Though the people were talking, there was an emptiness that could not be explained. No one mentioned the current political events on MSNBC or how certain some ones needed to learn how to speak less and hear more. There was a quietness from the room that even I missed as I noticed no one was telling the stories of old Chickasaw and the 1940’s depression era. There was a chair that no one dared to fill. No one would sit in it nor would they even think of taking this place. I can still hear the echoes of “Fat Mammaw” across the house and the bickering of how the government needed to be changed. Even Hilary didn’t come across the lips of those in the room. I can still hear him call out to us to come into the room and tell us to find some hidden present of his out in our car or he would tell Mammaw to give us a dollar. I can still hear the disgust in his voice when Dallas lost….once again. I can still hear his voice telling me how he didn’t really understand Amazing Grace until the day he asked Jesus into his heart. There was one empty chair this year, one empty voice, one empty thought…but there was a mind full of memories. Never will we forget the voice that told us just how it was. Never will we forget the stories of the days that he fought in the war. Never will we forget the opinions of his heart or the thoughts of his mind. It was one empty chair that one day will be filled again.

I hope all of you guys had a happy thanksgiving! Truly remember the reason you are thankful for.