🎄 The Empty Chair: Writing About Holidays After Loss

A gentle reflection on seasonal grief and how writing can help us hold what’s missing.

There’s something about the holidays. The music. The lights. The rituals. They stir up joy, yes—but also longing. Especially when someone we love is no longer here to fill their seat at the table.

The empty chair becomes more than furniture. It becomes a symbol. Of absence. Of memory. Of love that still lingers.

And while grief may feel louder during the holidays, writing can help us listen to it with compassion.

🕯️ Why Holidays Hurt More

Holidays are built on tradition—shared meals, inside jokes, the way they always carved the turkey or hung the ornaments slightly crooked. When those rituals are interrupted by loss, the season can feel hollow.

But grief doesn’t mean we stop celebrating. It means we learn to celebrate differently. With tenderness. With remembrance. With words.

Writing during the holidays allows us to:

• Honor the person who’s missing

• Create new rituals that include their memory

• Express emotions we may not feel safe sharing aloud

• Reconnect with the love beneath the loss

  
  

✍️ Writing Exercises to Navigate Holiday Grief

Here are a few gentle invitations to help you write through the season:

📝 “The Empty Chair” Letter

Write a letter to your loved one as if they were sitting beside you.

“I saved your seat today. I imagined you laughing at the same old jokes. I missed your cranberry sauce…”

🎁 Memory Gift List

Instead of shopping lists, write a list of gifts your loved one gave you—tangible or intangible.

“You gave me your stubbornness. Your love of books. Your recipe for sweet potato pie…”

🍽️ Holiday Ritual Rewrite

Describe a tradition you used to share, then write how you might adapt it to include their memory.

“We always decorated the tree together. This year, I’ll hang your favorite ornament first…”

🎶 Soundtrack of Grief

Create a playlist of songs that remind you of them, then write about what each one evokes.

“This one played at our last Christmas together. I still hear your voice in the chorus…”

🌟 Gratitude in Grief

Write about what you’re grateful for—even in the midst of missing them.

“I’m grateful for the years we had. For the stories I still tell. For the love that didn’t end…”

🌲 Making Space for Memory

You don’t have to be cheerful. You don’t have to pretend. You just have to show up—with your pen, your heart, and your truth.

At Orion’s Legacy, we believe that writing is a way to keep the light on. Even when the chair is empty.

Even when the season feels heavy.

Even when the words come slowly.

So this holiday, write. Write to remember. Write to feel. Write to heal.