Christmas always makes me think about my mother.  As I decorated the trees at the Inn, my thoughts drifted to Christmases long ago. Each one of the unique glass ornaments were placed on the boughs carefully with memories of family.  After 60 years, some of the ornaments are showing some wear.  The “Merry Christmas” on one was missing an “r” and an “a,” but I still knew what it said.  The really old ones were in shapes of a Santa and a bell. Those, I think, were on my mother’s tree BC (before children). The lights glowed and filled the room with the warmth of the season. In all the front windows, I placed the dusk-to-dawn candles. They really make the Inn festive.

I put the garland on the mantles in the dining room and parlor and hung the wreaths on the front door and in the foyer.  It never ceases to amaze me how the Christmas season affects me.  RJ and I are planning our Christmas dinner with family this year at the Inn. I can’t wait! It’s one of those few times when I can get all the family together (or at least more of it) to dine and enjoy each others’ company. Ham will be on the menu this year along with lots of Christmas cookies and pies.

I was thinking about my Christmas caroling yesterday at the Monroe County Hospital and the patients who reside there. I can’t image being in that situation and not being able to communicate. I mean, I write and read and talk to people all the time. What if I couldn’t do that anymore?  Are these patients trapped in their bodies where their minds are sharp and clear and their bodies no longer able to do what they would like them to do? Or is God kind and they are totally unaware of what has happened to them?  I watched the caregivers as they tended so carefully to those in their padded chairs, some strapped in so they wouldn’t fall, others leaning so far back, they could not sit up even if they wanted. I pray for them. I ask God to be kind.