Auntie JNET is staying in town and not having a family weekend. No Easter egg hunt with the kiddos this year. I’m leaving to attend my grandma’s funeral in a couple of days and then flying immediately after to attend my nephew’s Holy Communion and celebrate his rite of passage. It’s going to be a bitter sweet week.
Being buoyant and cheerful as my default, it’s been foreign being a puddle of tears all week. My emotions have been reeling. I’m not used to crying. My student and his mom brought flowers to their piano lesson to cheer me up. That tightened up the taps. My eyes haven’t leaked as much.
This sweet student and his mom saved a sinking JNET. I was feeling an avalanche of sadness. Having visited cathedrals and gardens with my grandma on many vacations, watching Notre Dame burn broke my already broken heart. Seeing people celebrate it was even worse. Awe-inspiring beautiful places lift my spirit and somehow I always thought of them as safe places where people can go and feel renewed.
Today, I celebrate Easter solo. The flowers bring cheer into my home. The spirit and enthusiasm that my student presented them reminds me that goodness yet blooms and thrives. Death was conquered with the empty tomb. Grace is a gift that transforms lives and to always have hope even in the space of death and ashes.
Celebrate life....even if you have to cry a little bit.
JNET