Saving Seats
Empty chairs. They can imply a number of things. Traditionally a chair and place setting are left empty at a Passover Seder for Elijah. There’s a certain amount of anticipation associated with an empty chair. There’s the expectation of a soon-to-arrive guest. Hope can also be attached to a seat without a sitter, such as those chairs at a restaurant, set out in hopeful expectancy at the prospect of yet to be seen hungry patrons.
Sometimes that empty chair is a reminder of a loved one no longer present. It’s set out and left unoccupied to honor the time and memory of someone we hope to yet again see, if not in this life, then in the next.
An empty chair can also be an invitation to sit awhile, chat with friends, neighbors, loved ones. Or simply take a load off and enjoy the view.
