Hello Hatters, Late one night, I was thinking about my blessings. Of course, Country Hubby comes to mind immediately. My life would have been dramatically different had he not pursued me and made me his bride. I miss him, as you well know, as I have expressed this emotion many times in my writings. What I don’t miss is seeing the suffering and the struggles that he dealt with year after year. From movement to breathing, all of it got to be too much. As I continued down this path of thought, I tried to come up with the word that describes what I miss most about my man. I prayed for a while with my Lord and then was almost ready to nod off to sleep and the word essence came to mind. Yes! I miss the essence of my Country Hubby.
That word has been running around in my head for the past few days and I want to get my thoughts down tonight. We’ve all heard a form of the word used a lot in these past 2 years about essential workers as it relates to Covid. I have essential oils in my home for health and well-being. I remember when the shampoo Herbal Essence was introduced many years ago. When someone wants to summarize a thought, they may say, “Essentially, what I mean is….”
When I have this kind of moment with a word, I always want to check a definition to see if I’m on track. I love looking up words and so I asked my funny Siri voice to check the definition for me. Sure enough, I had the meat of the word correct. Are you curious? Ok, I’ll tell you some of the other words revealed to me. Es-sence means the intrinsic nature or indispensable quality….that determines its character. Other words are soul, spirit, heart, core, center, marrow and substance. Yes, all of these things are what I miss the most about my soul mate.
My Country Hubby was one of a kind: he loved, he laughed, he worked, and he lived. Those verbs don’t begin to match the depth of his actions, but then how can you describe the indescribable? I learned so much from his life and his example. As I embrace the journey ahead of me, I want to make a difference wherever I’m led. I feel a purpose in my bones and a passion in my soul.
Just this last weekend, most of my family members were able to gather together for a late Christmas. I enjoyed my great-granddaughter help me unwrap my gifts as I pretended to struggle. She came to the rescue. With each gift that was opened by me and others, she proudly said, “I gave that to you!” She was so cute. Pizza, carrot cake, pasta, and salads were shared. Most importantly, love and laughter filled my home with the presence of many caring hearts.
It brings me back to the root of this blog post. Essence. Country Hubby brought the word to mind, but we all have an essence to share. Whether we’re intentional about enriching our unique qualities or not, we will impact others. As a writer who wears many hats just like you, my essence shows up in interactions with my family, my work, my community, and in my church. I hope for you and me that we make the world a richer place, and I’m not talking about money.
One of my favorite Christian singers, Toby Mac sings a song called, Rich. The chorus has the following lyrics: “I wanna be rich, oh, I wanna be rich. I wanna move on up, see just how sweet it is.” “I wanna be rich in love, rolling deep, loaded in friends and family. Rich, Lord, I wanna be rich.” Essence…. I really like that rich word.
Stay safe and healthy, my friends. MT Penny