Gemotions

The silence in the church hall was broken only by the rhythmic tap of her grandmother’s cane. Maria watched her, the stooped figure a silhouette against the stained-glass window. Her grandmother, once so vibrant and full of life, had seemed to shrink, physically and emotionally, since the news. Maria’s cousin, Isabella, was leaving Catholicism.

Each tap of the cane was a small punctuation mark on the sentence of loss. Maria felt the weight of her grandmother's unspoken grief. She, herself, felt a strange hollowness, a void where the shared belief and practices had once resided. The holidays, the family gatherings, the shared traditions – they now felt shadowed by an uncertain future.

Maria reached out and squeezed her grandmother's hand. The gesture was a silent offering of comfort in the face of an enormous change.