No Empty Chairs

‘No Empty Chairs’ is our family motto.  After every family prayer we all put our right hands together, curl them around and shout our motto while moving our collective hands up and down.  We do it every day, after every family prayer, and have done it for years and years.  We have lots of special memories of our handshake.  Extra hands from visits of Grandmas and Grandpas and family and friends… several new little baby hands set on top for their first family handshake… little toddler hands grabbing on to thumbs during our handshakes and shouting CHAIRS at the top of their lungs… little lefty girls sticking their ‘wrong’ hand in for a backwards handshake… Lots of times our handshakes end in giggles.  Always they end with smiles.

Ryan, Katie and Emily have a great understanding of our motto… that we want our whole family to make it back to live with Heavenly Father, and that we need to help and encourage every member of our family to get there.  Megan and I were in the van alone recently and I began a conversation about our family motto.  I asked, “What does ‘no empty chairs’ mean, Megan?”  She answered, “We want to all get to heaven.  And if we are all there and we’re looking around and Emily is not there, then we’ll be sad.”  (I don’t know why she used Emily in her example!) 

One of my favorite Christmas gifts this year was from my parents.  They special ordered necklaces and key chains engraved with our family motto.  For me, a large square pendant.  For the girls, a round pendant with the motto on one side and their initial on the other.  For Chris and the boys, key chains with their initial and our motto below.  We skyped Grandma and Grandpa late on Christmas afternoon and opened the small boxes in front of them.  Yes, I cried.  Thanks again for such a thoughtful and meaningful gift, Mom and Dad. We love them!