Cream Horns and Grief

When someone we love dies, we are heartbroken.  Maybe you find yourself heartbroken today.  If so, know I am thinking of and praying for you this afternoon.  Whether you're missing your grandpa, your child, your friend, your baby, your brother, your boss...I am thinking of you.  Your loved one was unique and loved.

Ministry took me a few miles from home this morning, and because I live in DC, every mile is a hike (!) so I found an interesting place to enjoy lunch.  Today it was a Swiss restaurant, and since I've not been to Switzerland nor tried Swiss food (save the cheese!), I stopped in.  I chose a cold pretzel sandwich with butter, salami, and gruyere for my meal (insert chef's kiss).  What a world.

As I finished, I saw them out of the corner of my eye.  What are them?  Cream horns.

Hello old friends.

The McKowns love a cream horn: The powdered sugar, the flaking, the cream--it's all heavenly.  If you haven't tried one, get thee to a bakery stat.  

All McKowns love them, but the McKown who loved them most was Betty, my grandmother.  I can still remember Granny gleefully eating cream horns over the sink.  Why eat over the sink?  

1. Why dirty a plate?  
2. Why chance powdered sugar on one of her exceptional outfits?

Exceptional outfit 

Cream horns always make me think of Granny.  I smiled when I saw them, but I also swallowed back a lump in my throat.  Grief is like that.  It's joy, it's sadness, it's gratitude, it's pain, it's funny.  It can be all the things.  

And wherever you are on your grief journey, know there is no recipe.  Laughter and tears are both welcome, and sometimes surface within the same day.  Today I mostly felt joy, but I felt some sadness too.

My faith (Christianity) is a comfort.  Jesus wept when his friend died (John 11:35), so I imagine Jesus grieving with me when I grieve.  (I also imagine him laughing when me when I laugh, but who knows if he likes puns as much as I do.)

What are the "cream horns" for you?  What is a sign of your loved one? 

And please know, no matter your faith or religion, I am praying for all those who grieve today.