We consider, today, two empty chairs. The first is seen in an ink drawing by #HEWalker (no information found regarding this artist). Here, we see a young lady overwhelmed with grief, standing beside an empty chair – husband, father, brother – we do not know, and beside her sits a loyal companion. The forlorn hound appears with downcast eyes as if it knows that it will never again lie at the masters’ feet. An almost palpable sense of sorrow emanates from this scene of a love lost and a faithfulness that continues ever on.

From there, we move to a house in Gads Hill. Here, we see an empty chair drawn back from a writing desk. The walls laden with books, the view into the garden are but inspirations. For this is the chair of #CharlesDickens. Here is a different sorrow. For once we know whose chair this was, we are not overwhelmed with grief, but we sorrow in the knowledge that this worthy person has passed. A loss to us all, and yet, we can and do remember and admire him for what his writings have done and continue to do for so many.

So. Two chairs – which bring about sorrow in different magnitudes. Grief seen from two sides – one a heart-rending loss and the other a sadness tinted with admiration and appreciation. Both touching a place within us and demanding a response. An  acknowledgedment of a thing that is undeniably true. Loss.