Everyone knows the holiday season starts with Thanksgiving. We all gather around the table and eat our body weight in turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. We spend time with our family and friends to show our gratitude and love for one another. We express how thankful we are. During this time, our bellies and our hearts feel so full of food and love, but there will always be that small part of us that feels that emptiness where our lost loved ones should be. In the midst of all the laughter and shared stories, we all miss seeing the smile and hearing the laughter of the ones that are now our guardian angel. Although we feel emptiness where this person should be, if we read in between the lines, we can see where they fulfill the empty gaps. They are the smell of the food cooking. They are there in the blank stares before the prayer. We can hear them within the laughter shared among each other. We see them in the happy faces of our family members. After we go our separate ways from the dinner table, we feel their touch on the tips of our fingers and the ends of our nose from the cold crisp air. We feel their breath in the wind that blows our hair from our face. We feel their embrace as we get the feeling back in our hands from the cool breeze. As we lay in bed, we can smile knowing that they are gone but never forgotten. Tomorrow we will experience these things all over again, with feelings that have always been. The holidays are a time to gather and express love, but it also allows us to remember what have and what we once had. People may be missing, but within us they will remain living.