Summer friends will melt away… but winter friends are friends forever.    – George R.R. Martin 

These past days have been full of little sparks from friends. A random text about a ‘90’s TV star, a link to an online concert, an invitation for cookie baking – all shining out from a sea of other inbound messages. 

Alongside these sparks were added glimmers from the season’s rituals. The tree-lighting ceremony in the park, the scratch of skaters in the ice rink, the subconscious humming along to holiday muzak – all linked to years of familiar fondness, just like those notes from friends. 

When the days are sunny and bright, it’s easy to for the sparkles to be lost in the glare of bigger lights. But when darkness falls, whether literal or metaphorical, a spark can be a blaze.

Dear ones, as the days grow shorter, let’s gather up the light.