A Holiday Memory of Love & Light

I miss my friend, Joe.  He passed away at the age of 92 several years ago.  We were close. 

Joe was a special person with a special heart, and I was lucky to call him my friend. 

He was a gentle man and a gentleman. Always wearing a beaming smile, he had a unique gift of making you feel like you were the only person in the room – like everything you did and everything you said was extraordinary.  Much like my Mom, he was joy, love, and kindness in human form.  

As we enter the holiday season, I am reminded of the last memory I have of Joe.  It was just before Christmas in 2019, and a few short months from the entire world shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Joe treated my husband, son, and me to dinner at one of his favorite restaurants (O’Charley’s) and afterwards we took him on a car ride through our favorite neighborhood for Christmas light viewing.  

As we drove up and down the streets enjoying the various displays of color and lights, I watched Joe transform into a child, as he beamed with pure joy, ‘oohing’ and ‘aahing’ in response to the beauty outside his window.  His pure elation made my heart overflow with gratitude. It was a seemingly ordinary event that became an extraordinary experience because Joe made it so.

As I watched his dear face glow in the sparkle of the twinkling lights, I remember thinking to myself: “I wish this could last forever.”   I didn’t want it to stop because I knew how very special the moment was.  A precious moment that lives on in my heart, forever reminding me of my kind friend and all the radiant light he brought to my life and to this world.

As the holiday season approaches, I encourage each of us to be more like Joe.  May we revel in the magic of this time with gratitude and love, and we may care for each other just as Joe did for me, and I for him – with gentleness, respect, and kindness. May we never forget to be grateful, and may we always seek out hope and wonder wherever we can find it.