Samhain

Tomorrow is Samhain.
Yes, people, that's Hallowe'en. All Hallow's Eve.
Samhain.
The Day of the Dead.
The Day of Remembrance.
The day pagans like me remember those who have gone before us, who have passed through the veil.
It's both solemn and merry- we laugh to remember the good times together, and we cry to know that those we love are gone. We treasure the memories of those who have been with us, and if sometimes our laughs are sometimes choked with sobs, and our tears sometimes drip onto smiles, well then, that is how the day goes.

Samhain has always been a hard day for me. I use it to celebrate not only those who have passed on, but those who have simply passed out of my life.
And there are a lot of those.
Some for the better, and some still leave an aching hole in my heart.

This Samhain, I don't know yet where I will be or what I will do. I may go to Atlanta, but if I do then I don't know where yet.
I don't do Halloween parties, at least not on Samhain night.
Many Samhains, I cook a Dumb Feast, and I invite my loved ones who are still with us. We set a place at the table for those we have lost, and we share joy and tears in their memories.
This Samhain, I don't know if I will have the opportunity to do that.
But wherever I am, those I love and have lost will be in my heart.