Today’s journal page is entitled “Empty Chair.”

Since I was a child, Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. To me, Christmas meant twinkling lights, delicious food, great presents from Santa, glorious music, and most importantly, precious moments spent with my loved ones, particularly my grandparents. They always did everything they could to ensure that the holidays were happy and fun for my sister and me–and we are so fortunate to have many warm, wonderful memories of the times we spent with them around the tree.

Our paternal grandmother passed away during my senior year of high school, and as my sis and I became adults, our maternal grandparents entered their eighties and began to slow down. At that point, it became our job to make Christmas as merry as possible for them. Each year we eagerly anticipated the holidays, and our goal was to do whatever we could to make them wonderful. When I started scrapbooking, I began creating handmade greeting cards, albums, and other items for them. The expressions of pleasure and joy on their faces as they opened these heartfelt gifts will remain with me forever.

Since their passing in 2005 and 2008, respectively, Christmas hasn’t been quite the same. Last year, a day before Christmas, I lost a beloved pet, and this has also made it difficult. The proverbial “empty chairs” at my holiday table, and the challenging feelings of remembrance, grief, and loneliness that many people have during this season, were the inspiration for this page.

This page was created with old book pages, scraps of patterned paper from another project, masking tape, Washi tape, white gesso, acrylic paint, pigment and dye inks, stamps, water-soluble crayons, a vintage Dymo label maker, pens, and a magazine image.

For me, art journaling is a wonderful and needed source of catharsis, and I thank you for allowing me the opportunity to share with you!