Holiday Thoughts

Sitting up straight in the wooden pew I hold my head high gazing at marble statues with sunlight cast through stain glass windows while repeating the priest’s responses on cue. I sing the sacred hymns with all my heart because I was once told that “singing is like praying twice.” In church strangers whisper to me I have “a voice like an angel” I am embarrassed but I cannot stop knowing all the verses so well. People are wearing their “Sunday best” bowing their heads praying for the poor, the homeless, the shut-ins and remembering family and lost loved ones. Nearby an old woman is clutching her rosary as I watch a little boy fidget sitting next to his parents. I glance up at the ceiling during the homily as my thoughts drift in and out about the past. Every year I light a white candle near the altar and kneel to pray. I partake in this tradition every December holiday. I become flooded with memories of family as I never know what the future will bring.