A Family Lost on Christmas Eve

I was listening to the Orange County Fire dispatch frequencies last night and heard a call in Anaheim for an auto versus pedestrian accident. While the trucks were still en route the dispatcher informed them that the police were reporting it as a possible fatal. A few minutes later the engine company canceled their ambulance and confirmed that the victim had died...just two days before Christmas. A family will have a very difficult holiday this year.

It brought back memories from 40 years ago. On Christmas Eve 1969 a young mother was Christmas shopping with her daughter (I think she was 2 or 3). They were in a crosswalk but were hit by a driver who wasn't paying attention. Both were killed.

The pastor of my church often helped out at local funeral homes by providing services for people who didn't have a church of their own. He was called in on that incident and the family requested to have teenage boys serve as pallbearers for the child. I was asked by my pastor to help out, along with three of my friends.

It was a terribly sad funeral, just days after Christmas. A young man in his 20's had lost his entire family and it was hard to watch him go through all that. I often wonder how the last 40 years have treated him. I hope he was able to remarry and start another family.

There are a lot of Christmas Eve memories that I've forgotten over the years, but that one will always stay with me.