Beauty in brokenness

Fourteen years ago while my grief over the deaths of my husband and my youngest son - who died 3 months apart - was fresh, I found this whelk shell on the beach...
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Fourteen years ago while my grief over the deaths of my husband and my youngest son - who died 3 months apart - was fresh, I found this whelk shell on the beach. It looked like it was an unbroken shell until I pulled it out of the sand and discovered it had a hole on the bottom. I was disappointed, but I took it home anyway and cleaned it up. When I sat it on the counter after washing it, I realized the hole was a the perfect size for a tea light. I found a tea light and put in it the hole and lit it. it was beautiful! It illuminated the shell and cast a soft glow in the room. It occurred to me that the hole in my heart - which is how I described my pain - could allow the light of God's love and healing to illuminate me. It was a turning point in my grief. The shell has been on my coffee table ever since. Tonight, I lit the candle and enjoyed its soft beauty again and decided to take a picture.
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