Life is About Loss, Many Losses, Goodbye Emily's

Today I am grateful for the smooth, smoother than usual, cup of coffee I am enjoying right now. Is the coffee better today, or am I just paying more attention to my senses in the present moment?  It doesn't matter. I am just savoring it.

That moment is gone. The next has arrived, and the next. If we look at life this way, life is a series of losses. Maybe if we looked at loss differently we could see how inextricably it is woven into every aspect of life, and maybe we could embrace it in new ways. 

I am not saying that we should go looking for loss, rather that it finds us at every turn. It can't be avoided. Neither can the gift of the next moment. Until we draw our final breath anyway. The person I was five minutes ago, five years ago, five decades ago is gone. But there's a new me in this particular moment and that is pretty amazing.

Life is about loss. Big ones. Small ones. Noticed and unnoticed ones. Loss is on my mind the last few days for several reasons. My dear friend lost her father, and a couple days later her family lost a dear cat. My sister and her husband lost their cat, a newer member of their family who had come to live with them since the loss of her mother-in-law.  Another friend lost her stomach to the threat of cancer. 

Isn't it a little strange when someone or something dies, is removed, or leaves forever, we say we lost them?  We lost their presence in our lives, but not their impact. Perhaps we lost them to a different level of existence. But if we believe that, then we haven't really lost them either. 

My community, and my family, suffered a different kind of loss this week. The loss of our beloved local bakery--Emily's. We have been regular, and quite satisfied, customers ever since we moved here over twenty years ago.  It was sure sad news to hear of the bakery's closing, and we will cherish the remaining bread and goodies we have. Some are in the freezer and will be rationed so they last longer. 

Thank you to all at Emily's; the owners, bakers, cashiers. All of you! You have had a crazy last few weeks, but I hope you feel the love from your many, many customers. All the best in whatever is next for all of you. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! 

Yesterday was Emily's last day of business. It seemed fitting to take a picture of this sign in their window one last time:

And this is my favorite Emily's treat--a baseball bar. It is safe to say I have had hundreds of them over the years.  This isn't my last baseball bar, but it was my first one after my last trip to Emily's.

That "OPEN" sign is a good reminder. Life is a series of losses. An open mind and heart allows us to grieve and also to honor.  Allows us to say goodbye, but also remember.