DECEMBER 31 It is dark now The snow is deep blue and the ocean nearly black It is time for some music —MAY SARTON In the midst of the deepest winter, of the darkest night, what are we to do? Acknowledge the cold and the dark, the mystery of an unknowable black ocean that seems to stretch into infinity…and then sing! Or, to put it another way, “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” One of the glories of human beings is their ability to venture, to see beyond the immediate scene, to raise a note of hope and risk in a sometimes foreboding world So may this New Year’s Eve—this turning into the next year, this milestone which has its aura of sadness because I enter another year without my loved one—may this New Year’s Eve be for me a time for music And if I am able—later, if not now—may I hear in my heart the voice of my loved one lifted with my voice, to praise life, to hope for life, to join others on this circling globe in an “Alleluia,” for the experiences we have shared and share even now, and for the ways beyond time and death in which we are bound to one another in gratitude and love Happy New Year Alleluia Amen About the Author MARTHA WHITMORE HICKMAN is the author of more than twenty books for adults and children Among her adult titles are The Growing Season, Fullness of Time, and I Will Not Leave You Desolate Books for young children include And God Created Squash, When Andy’s Father Went to Prison, and Eeps Creeps, It’s My Room Hickman is a native of Massachusetts and a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Mount Holyoke To her writing she brings the additional perspective of being a wife, mother, grandmother, and sometime editor and teacher She presently lives with her husband in Los Altos, California Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author Also by Martha Whitmore Hickman For Adults HOW TO MARRY A MINISTER THE GROWING SEASON: THE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF MIDDLE LIFE I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU DESOLATE: SOME THOUGHTS FOR GRIEVING PARENTS WAITING AND LOVING: THOUGHTS OCCASIONED BY THE ILLNESS AND DEATH OF A PARENT FULLNESS OF TIME: SHORT STORIES OF WOMEN AND AGING SUCH GOOD PEOPLE A DAY OF REST: CREATING SPIRITUAL SPACE IN YOUR WEEK WADE IN THE WATER: 52 REFLECTIONS ON THE FAITH WE SING For Children I’M MOVING MY FRIEND WILLIAM MOVED AWAY THE REASON I’M NOT QUITE FINISHED TYING MY SHOES EEPS, CREEPS, IT’S MY ROOM! LAST WEEK MY BROTHER ANTHONY DIED WHEN JAMES ALLEN WHITAKER’S GRANDFATHER CAME TO STAY GOOD MANNERS FOR GIRLS AND BOYS WHEN OUR CHURCH BUILDING BURNED DOWN LOST AND FOUND WHEN ANDY’S FATHER WENT TO PRISON AND GOD CREATED SQUASH: HOW THE WORLD BEGAN ROBERT LIVES WITH HIS GRANDPARENTS A BABY BORN IN BETHLEHEM THEN I THINK OF GOD Copyright HEALING AFTER LOSS Copyright © 1994 by Martha Whitmore Hickman All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader January 2009 ISBN 978-0-06-183521-6 10 About the Publisher Australia HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd 25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321) Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au Canada HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 55 Avenue Road, Suite 2900 Toronto, ON, M5R, 3L2, Canada http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca New Zealand HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited P.O Box Auckland, New Zealand http://www.harpercollins.co.nz United Kingdom HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 77-85 Fulham Palace Road London, W6 8JB, UK http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk United States HarperCollins Publishers Inc 10 East 53rd Street New York, NY 10022 http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com ... ROBERT LIVES WITH HIS GRANDPARENTS A BABY BORN IN BETHLEHEM THEN I THINK OF GOD Copyright HEALING AFTER LOSS Copyright © 1994 by Martha Whitmore Hickman All rights reserved under International... retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books Adobe Acrobat eBook