Cocoabean

Day 58: "When Memory lives, Spirit endures." It is a phrase I often include in notes of sympathy when a friend has lost a loved one, and although I am not religious and do not believe in a soul as such, "spirit" is another concept entirely. "Spirit" is how we are perceived and remembered by others, whether we are alive or dead. It is the essence of who we are and how we relate to the rest of the world. It is more apparent to us in other humans and in our pets, but all things have "spirit," right down to the rocks and soil beneath our feet; it is our mental record of them.

One dear spirit passed through my life all too briefly, and although his memory is still strong in my mind more than a decade after his passing, I strengthen it each Christmas when I place his ornament on the tree: first, and in a place of prominence. I miss you, Cocoabean, love of my life.