Christmas, 7 January 2015
A Christmas greeting for a year in which the empty place at the table was not only a tradition.
A peaceful Christmas to everyone marking it today.
There is an old element of the Ukrainian Christmas table that I have written about before: a place is set for someone who is not there. In most years it is a gesture towards ancestors, or towards anyone who might arrive.
This year, in a great many houses, that place has a name and a face, and the family knows exactly where he is and cannot reach him.
I do not have anything wise to add to that. I will only say that the tradition was built by people who also had years like this one, and that it has held up because it does not pretend everyone is present. It makes room for the absence instead.
To every household setting that place tonight: I am thinking of you. Peace, and a full table again soon.
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