By Marie-Dominique Rail

December 10, 2025

There are moments when joy feels like a distant horizon, softened by mist—especially in a season where the world sparkles with celebration while your own heart moves at the rhythm of remembrance. As lights shimmer through windows and laughter dances in the air, you may find yourself standing in a more delicate space. Beneath the ornaments and music, you might be carrying the sacred weight of someone whose absence breathes through every corner of this time—someone whose presence once wrapped your life in warmth, tenderness, and belonging.

When a beloved soul crosses the sacred threshold—or gently lingers between worlds—it can feel as though a luminous part of you has traveled with them. Winter nights stretch deeper, the air grows stiller, and even the most beautiful moments echo with what can no longer be held. The lights may shine, the carols may rise, but the quiet ache remains—an emptiness you honor, because it is shaped by a love that transformed you.

And yet, within this very ache lives a hidden blessing. A soft, holy light that reveals itself when the heart becomes still. When you lean—just a little—into faith, into trust, into the unseen, you may feel a gentle radiance awakening inside you.

Light a candle for them. Whisper their name as if offering a prayer. Feel their laughter vibrating in your memory, their gentleness brushing your soul, the way their love once uplifted your entire being. Their essence is not lost—it travels with you, woven into the energy that surrounds and holds you.

During this sacred season, the veil becomes thinner, more transparent to the heart. Souls who have ascended often draw close, moving with grace and subtlety, sending messages that only an open heart recognizes—a melody that appears at the perfect moment, a feather resting where no feather should be, a sudden warmth on your shoulder like a spiritual embrace, a familiar scent carried by a passing breath of air.

These are not coincidences. They are love speaking its eternal language, reminding you that connection does not end. It transforms and widens beyond the physical world.

And perhaps this year, your greatest gift will arrive not wrapped in paper, but wrapped in presence—in a whisper, a sensation, a profound knowing:

✨ They are nearer than you imagine.

✨ They walk beside you in ways only your soul can perceive.

✨ And love—pure, eternal, radiant—never disappears.

For me, this understanding began early in life. Since childhood, I have been gently opened to the teachings of loss, transition, and the invisible world—guided through the departures of family members, dear friends, and beloved souls. I was always drawn toward the Light, sensing the presence of those crossing the veil. In my early adult years, this calling led me to become a companion in palliative centers, walking with people at the end of life, offering presence, comfort, and a sacred witnessing. These moments—humbling, holy, transformative—became a foundation for the work I do today.

🤍🕊 It is from this sacred truth that a new book was born.

A book whispered to me during the quietest nights of my 17 months in the hospital, as I walked through cancer treatment, and as my beloved godmother and older brother crossed into the Light. In those moments of deep vulnerability, their presences became stronger than ever—guiding me, comforting me, teaching me that love never ends.

What I received during those nights became the pages of a work meant to accompany others through their own grief, tenderness, and healing.