Category Archives: Life’s disappointments

Different (by Nelson)

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Last night Mom wrote her blog entry about our outing to Marshall Field’s.  I woke up thinking about the dinner and the night’s similarities and differences to years past. Some things were the same, some were different. She talked about things that were the same…the lights, the giant tree, zillions of shoppers scrambling to buy and rush home with their treasures, waiting to be seated, and the cold wind in the city.  And then the things that were different.  Marshall Field’s is now Macy’s, even though I couldn’t see much change other than better food.

All of us kids have slowly turned from children into adults…not much interest in having the “Snow Fairy” come by our table and sprinkle silver glitter and wave her magic wand around.  I thought, “It’s hard to get a job these days. I bet that girl doesn’t get more than minimum wage to dress up and prance around like that.  I wonder if she gets high before she comes to work and that’s why she smiles so much.  Then again, maybe she is happy to make the kids happy.”  I hope it’s the latter. We see things through different eyes.  But the biggest difference is obviously Papa’s absence.  No matter how great the night was in every respect, he still wasn’t there at the table.  It tainted the event, “bad.”

This morning, as I walked Jack the dog down to the beach through the snow, I thought about what makes something “good” and something we try to repeat.  “Oh, that was such an awesome time!  Let’s do it again next year.”  Or “bad,” “I don’t know, it just sort of fell flat.  It wasn’t the same.”  What’s the difference?  How do we feel? Who was there?  The weather?  Good conversation? Or did I get that “good Christmas feeling?”  Why are some things “good” and some things “bad?”

I suppose it has to do with pain and comfort.  When I am comfortable and things are the way I expected them to be, I call it good.  When things are painful, uncomfortable, and not what I had in mind, I call it bad.  It is surely painful to sit at a table trying to enjoy a meal with our family when the head of our family is not there.  Grief is present instead of his laugh.  No one can deny that.  It hangs heavy in the room.  To deny it would be like a child whistling in the dark to keep from being scared to death.

This is a forced change.  Now things are different.  No two ways about it.  Different.  It’s different for Papa.  Different for us.  Is it good or is it bad?  I don’t know.  Probably bad for us but good for him.  I believe it depends entirely on my expectations.  If I think, “We will go eat downtown under the tree and it will be just like last year and all the years before that,” then I will probably call it “bad.”  On the other hand, if I think, “Papa is with the Lord now and we will miss him dearly, but we are going through all of this together.  I am going to enjoy these moments while they last,” then the night can be “good” no matter how it turns out.

Today, Mom and I went to Carmax to look at some four wheel drive vehicles so she can replace her van with something safer and more reliable.  We drove into Indiana and did a bit of last minute shopping and mailing before some test drives.  The whole day was filled with great conversation and quality time together.  It turned out to be a really “good” day.   I had no idea it was coming, and because I had no expectation about it being this or that, it was great.

To me, differences are a constant in my life and in my walk with the Lord.  The more I cling to “sameness,” the more handsClayfrustrated, useless, and stagnant I will be.  The more willing and open I can be to His changes in my life, the better.  I have made plenty of mistakes so far that have resulted in self-inflicted pain.  Other things happen and I don’t know why.  I can choose how I respond to the Lord’s dealings with me no matter what happens because I know He works all things together for good.  It’s possible that the only thing “bad” is my perspective.  I usually only grow through pain.

“So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.” (Jeremiah 18:3-4)

Trying out Traditions

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Some of my widow friends have advised me to keep family traditions just as they’ve always been in this first year after Nate’s death. Others have said it will be too difficult to stick with the old because Nate will be missing, so new traditions are the way to go. As we approach another “first”, actually a series of firsts, (Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day), none of us is sure what to do.

Marshall Fields Sign

Today we decided to continue a time-honored family tradition, eating dinner under the Marshall Fields/Macy’s Christmas tree. Downtown Chicago is always dressed to the nines for the holidays, and Fields in particular goes over the top. Just stepping in off the street causes people to start clicking cameras at the massive glittering displays overhead and in every aisle.

Each year since Nelson was 11 months, Nate and I have taken the kids to the Walnut Room for dinner, late in December. We used to dress them in their festive best and wait up to two hours to get a table. But we were together, and anticipation was half the fun. Nate would walk over from his office three blocks away to get in line as the rest of us  were making our way to the Loop from the suburbs on a train. When the kids were little, the train trip was a highlight, despite frigid wait-times on the “L” platform. Zooming into the subway section of the ride was as good as being at Disneyland.

Fields decorations

When we arrived at the store, we’d find Nate in line with hundreds of other traditionalists. He’d say, “I’ll hold the coats if you want to run around the store.” His arms filled with hefty winter wear, mounded nearly to his eyes, and he’d holler after us, “Check back every fifteen minutes!”  These days Fields/Macy’s hands out pagers, and we have the convenience of cell phones, so no one has to wait in line. The down side is everyone has to hold their own coat.

There were just six of us this year. Our Florida family is readying for the birth of their baby boy. Our British family is saving their dollars anticipating spring-time twins. But the other five kids and I decided we’d pursue the same plan as always, dinner in the Walnut Room.

Fields Tree

I didn’t anticipate it would be so difficult. As Nelson and I drove in from Michigan, we talked about how this was Nate’s kind of event, his family gathered around him and good food served in a fancy restaurant with excellent service. He always tipped the waitresses extra, knowing they had families to buy gifts for, wanting to brighten their lives. Sometimes he tipped them 40%. I used to glance at what he handed them and say, “Really? Is that much necessary?” Of course it wasn’t, but on this annual occasion, he always did it.

Tonight as we studied the familiar menus, I looked at the end of the table where Nate always sat and couldn’t hold back the tears. It seemed so wrong that he wasn’t there championing the dinner as he always had. I muttered through my tears, “Papa would have had the lobster bisque and chicken pot pie.” Heads nodded around the table.

“And a sugar cookie,” Lars said, “about an inch thick, mostly frosting.”

Fields Windows, Fam. Picture

We got through it, but it was a major effort. I cried most of the way back to Michigan, longing so badly to connect with Nate on this particular day. Grieving is a slow process, I guess, and falling tears are part of moving forward. It’s encouraging to know, from friends who’ve already done this, that grieving does eventually end. I can’t imagine what that will feel like, but as always, I choose to believe the ones who know what they’re talking about.

“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” (Ephesians 3:20)

The Ties that Bind

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Nate was big on holidays. Our firstborn was 11 months old on his first Christmas, and we bought the little guy 17 presents. It was a classic case of overkill, and as any experienced parent could have predicted, he was crying with frustration by the end of the unwrapping session. All he wanted was the first gift, the one we ripped out of his hands so we could put the second gift into them, then the third, etc.

Last Christmas, our 36th with children, we each drew one name from a hat and bought one gift for that person. Whew… a much wiser, calmer Christmas morning. That’s not to say, however, we still didn’t lean toward extremes now and then. Take Nate’s approach to holiday neck ties. He loved receiving a new tie, and every year under the tree there was sure to be a long, flat box foretelling he was about to receive another one. Tie-buying children thought he would be disappointed with such a humble gift, but Nate lovingly wore his ties to the frayed stage, bragging about which child had purchased which one.

Christmas ties

Altogether he had over 100 neckties, and I accused him of tie-gluttony. More than 40 of them had holiday themes. He wore candy hearts on Valentine’s Day, shamrocks on St. Patrick’s Day, purple plaid on Easter, flags on the 4th of July, pilgrims on Thanksgiving, and balloons on New Year’s Day. But the category with the greatest abundance was Christmas.

Nate had enough Christmas ties not to have to repeat even once during the holiday season. Although he had snowmen, Santas, nativity scenes, Snoopy and Christmas trees, his favorite was a red tie with big candy canes on it. That was also the one with the most salad dressing stains, the price it paid for peak popularity.

Nate’s ties became legendary at the office, or should I say comical. His last day at work was September 23, and we returned once after that, ostensibly to say goodbye. That last visit was bittersweet for Nate and also for his office mates, some who had tears in their eyes. Hugs were plentiful, and although no one said it with words, we all knew each was the last. That kind of goodbye must rank among life’s most painful experiences.

Nate’s co-workers knew he was coming that day and prepared a loving gesture that touched us both deeply. They wore holiday neckties and jewelry, even though it was October. Nate got the joke right away and appreciated their effort. I wondered as the twenty or so of us sat in the conference room if he let his thoughts travel to the coming Christmas season and his own tie wardrobe, wondering if he might make it that far. Knowing he knew it was unlikely is a grievous thought.

A couple of weeks ago, I brought the holiday ties out of their storage basket where they’d been rolled neatly since last January. We spread them on the dining room table, and all of us enjoyed handling these remembrances of Nate. “Oh, I remember this one most of all,” Birgitta said. “This reminds me so much of Papa.”

“I want to keep this one,” Louisa said.

“And I want that one,” someone else chimed in.

We sent a few ties to friends we knew would take pleasure in having them and bundled the rest into a box to send to the office. Some could be worn. Others could be used as decorations. All would be appropriate reminders of a guy who dearly loved each of his co-workers.

Our church hymnal has a song entitled “Blest Be the Tie that Binds.” Written in the late 1700’s, it refers to the sweet bond of friendship, a “fellowship of kindred minds” and says, “Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one.” The last verse talks about Nate’s final visit to the office: “When we asunder part, it gives us inward pain; but we shall still be joined in heart, and hope to meet again.”

May Nate’s Christmas ties be the “tie that binds.”

“Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” (Romans 12:15)