Tuesday Word Bytes: Mmm, Mmm, Mmm!

I LOVE words!  I think language is the best part of being a human.  There's nothing as good as taking a new word and rolling it around the inside of my mouth and feeling how it tastes.

Todays word;

Desiderium (dess-eh-dehr-ee-um)

From Latin:  desiderare, to desire.

A feeling of loss or grief for something you once had or knew but which you can longer have or know.

Desiderium is a stronger sensation than Nostalgia, which is described as a wistful longing for a place or time in which we believe we were happy.

I had a teddy bear.  I got him when I was very small.  I never went to sleep without him when I was child and even brought him on my honey moon.

When my children were born they slept with their teddy bears and I slept with mine.

What did my husband think?  He was never jealous.  I think he thought it was quirky and cute.

In 1992 our family flew to Florida on a winter vacation.  Teddy was in a tote bag under my seat.  Halfway through the flight my husband and I switched seats to share the care of our toddler and grade school son.  We each forgot to check under the seats when we disembarked and Teddy was lost forever.

I was 32 years old.

I mourned the loss of that Teddy bear deeply and long.  Sometimes I still long for him, even though I'm now 55.  My dear, sweet children tried to comfort me with their own stuffed animals.  

This is just what he looked like!

At 32 years old, the Lord decided that it was time for me to put childish things behind me. 

BUT!  I was in very good company!  My bear had a famous cousin.  He looked just like Radar O'Reilly's Teddy bear, except his was 2 toned and mine was solid brown.

We all have things, places, people that we long for, that we mourn for.

The Lord is our comforter.  When we place our mourning at his feet he can turn it into gladness.