What an Empty Chair at the Table Is For

Several traditions include, at certain gatherings, an empty chair or an extra place setting, reserved for someone absent: a departed relative, an unnamed guest, a stranger who might arrive.

The gesture is not primarily for the absent person, who will not occupy the chair. It is for the people present, a physical reminder built into the architecture of the meal that the gathering is not entirely closed, not entirely self-sufficient, not entirely without loss or without room.