December 11th
Christmas is a time of love, joy, and sadness for Mickey and me. We remember those we love who live on only in memory. Mickey’s best friend, Bob, who died this year, spent many Christmases with us when he had no family.
Bob was the local Santa for 30 years at our town mall and annual events. He especially loved to be Santa for those in the nursing homes who were sick or lonely. Even when his health began to fail, Bob still played Santa for patients in the rehabilitation hospital. We remember him in his red Santa suit laughing, singing carols, and giving thanks to God for all the blessings he had received.
As for me, my grandmother died on Christmas day. I will always miss her feisty spirit and wit. One of the last things grandma told me was that she wished we could have shared the same birthday because she believed we were so alike. My mother and I were with her in hospice when she died.
As she departed this life to the blessings of the next, we held her hands and sang to her. We sang the hymns and Christmas carols that grandfather sang with gusto all the time. We told her we loved her and that she could go be with grandpa. She turned her head and looked up to the ceiling as if she saw someone there and then closed her eyes for the last time. Every Christmas, I still think of that snowy evening where we sang with grief and joy. We grieved our loss, but were glad her suffering was over.
A carol that symbolizes both the joyous and melancholic aspects of Christmas is, "In the Bleak Mid-Winter," by Christina Rossetti. Mickey and I like to think of this carol as a reminder of hope and love that came to us forever, even in a harsh season of loss for us.
Becky and Mickey Boykin
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