When I look at this picture...

When I look at this picture,
I of course see the heart,
and with the pending anniversary of Mumbai,
I can’t help but see the missing limb.

The whole world can see the heart
and may not know the limb was even there.

The tree asks the world to join in that love, to see an extension of themselves with the limbs that we have reaching out of our lives and to cherish them now. The heart reminds us to have gratitude for the things we cannot see, but have helped us along the way. So I join with this tree and extend this thought. When a loved one has passed, we mourn the loss, but I think we need to enhance our focus. We need to collect all of the thoughts and gifts these people have brought to us and tuck them into our heart’s pocket. We need to let the best of them come out of us in every breath, laugh and action. This is how we keep their spirit alive. This is how the best of the world keeps working here on earth.

So in the coming days,
I will collect the memories and the smiles.
I will lose some tears to the ocean of emptiness,
but I will fill my heart with the best
of what I have and have known,
and I will bring it forward for all to know,

for all to feel,

all the hearts,
and all limbs
that hold us,
even when we cannot see them.