We just got back from a cruise/land tour in Alaska. It was incredible. Marianne and I took our middle son, Joey (many of you have met Joey – for those who haven’t, Joey is a really special guy, and we are blessed to have him live with us). Joey’s best friend, Timmy, and his family were with us on the cruise which made it even more wonderful.

Alaska is overwhelming. The glaciers and endless mountains, the whales and bald eagles, and the vast expanses of nature’s beauty are mostly free of human influence.  Grandeur is everywhere. It is truly humbling.

But I was also struck by smaller things on this trip – especially watching Joey and Timmy connect with so many people. Joey is really social – no matter where he was or what he was doing, we’d find him chatting with new friends. Whether on an elevator, in the restaurants, on excursions into the towns, or on the railroad we’d hear “hey Arnold, how’re you doing?” (Arnold Schwarzenegger is Joey’s alter ego) . . . and we’d leave them with a “I’ll be back” from Joey.

Seeing the looks on people’s faces when they connected with Joey and Timmy, watching them light up and let go of whatever stresses and tension they might have felt before made me realize how much connection humanizes us. It’s so easy to isolate, even surrounded by others.

EricsHouse is built on the model that we grievers do best in connection with our peers in loss. Connection normalizes us and gives us safe space to figure out what healing might mean for each of us individually.  Connecting with one another gives us hope for a meaning filled future.

Observing Joey makes me wonder what I miss by not being more open to those new connections outside of EricsHouse. What stops me? What unrealized possibilities might show up? I am grateful that he makes it so easy to find, maybe I can even learn to do it more easily on my own.

And…Alaska: we’ll be back.