The Love that Remains

A Saudade Celebration

January 30th, I celebrated, with Brazilians, the day of saudade. It can mean many things to different people, but for me, it's not so much a remembrance of lost loves or better times, as it is a celebration of "the love that remains" in my life.

Previously unaware of saudade, I must have been preparing for this day for a long time. Through trips down memory lane from watching old movie favorites to rediscovering misplaced photo albums and old paintings, I've been remembering the good times and feeling the strength and tenderness of this love that remains.

Spontaneously, a few friends came over to celebrate on this balmy winter night in a Texas style fire-pit ceremony of past joys, and joys to come-- and the love that remains.

"It's amazing, Molly...the love inside, you take it with you!" from the movie, Ghost (1990)

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According to Wikipeidia...

"Saudade is a Portuguese and Galician word difficult to translate adequately, which describes a deep emotional state of nostalgic longing for something or someone that one was fond of and which is lost."

"Saudade has been described as a "vague and constant desire for something that does not and probably cannot exist...a turning towards the past or towards the future". A stronger form of saudade may be felt towards people and things whose whereabouts are unknown, such as a lost lover, or a family member who has gone missing. It may also be translated as a deep longing or yearning for something which does not exist or is unattainable."

"Saudade was once described as "the love that remains" or "the love that stays" after someone is gone. Saudade is the recollection of feelings, experiences, places or events that once brought excitement, pleasure, well-being, which now triggers the senses and makes one live again. It can be described as an emptiness, like someone ( e.g. one's children, parents, sibling, grandparents, friends) or something (e.g. places, pets, things one used to do in childhood, or other activities performed in the past) that should be there in a particular moment is missing, and the individual feels this absence. In Portuguese, 'tenho saudades tuas', translated as 'I have saudades for you' means 'I miss you', but carries a much stronger tone. In fact, one can have 'saudades' of someone with which one is, but have some feeling of loss towards the past or the future."