By Jim Hagarty
2012
My heart goes out to those facing their first Christmas without a parent or both parents. Guess what I did that first season whenever I heard Anne Murray singing Away in a Manger, my Mom’s favourite hymn by her favourite singer. My first Christmas without my mother. I was single with no children of my own at the time. I think those who are still unattached suffer those losses a little more, but that’s just an opinion. My parents still loom large in my life though they’ve been gone almost 30 years, and they are with me never so much as at Christmas even today. The reason that is so is they were my best friends. And, of course, whenever I want to be reminded of what they were like, I need only look across the room at our son and daughter. And when I hear Anne Murray singing Away in the Manger on the radio, I still tear up. I have tears in my eyes just writing this. And I am glad that I do.
