Christmas Lights

2010 was the year of the Christmas lights. Dan was working a seasonal job putting up lights for small businesses, strip malls, and homes. He loved being a Santa of sorts by stringing the lights to create some holiday cheer. He loved the superman effect of being on roofs around the city (but that's another story). The Christmas season was very good for Dan.

Here we are now, on the last day of January. The lights are dimmed. Many have already been removed while others will wait til the warmer days of Spring to be released from their prison of ice and snow. We are in the winter doldrums. Or are we?

Enter Marie.

Marie is the single mother of Dan's good friend, Mike. Marie lived with her kids at her mother's house across the street from us for eight years. For seven years the house was ablaze with Christmas decorations. This year the house looked darker because Marie has moved into her own home with Dom, her beau, in early December.

I was happy to see Marie this past weekend while we were at a local restaurant for a relative's 80th birthday party. Marie is very happy and content in her new home. She said that it was hard to move during Christmas season, missing the warmth of the Christmas lights and the things familiar to her in her old house. She then told me how she returned to her the new house on the day after the move to find my son on her roof stringing lights in the snow. Even as she told me about the story, she teared up. That was just what she needed to feel the Christmas spirit in her new house. She felt that Dan's caring, sweet, and generous gesture was just what she needed to feel as though she was home in the warmth of the season.

As she finished the story, Dan joined our little group and saw her tears. "What's wrong?" he asked. She dismissed him quickly and said she had something in her eye. He believed her. So, my 20 yr old ball of testosterone went on his way to socialize with others having no idea of the impact he had on Marie's move and her Christmas spirit.

Yes, the other side of Dan. The Superman Santa Claus with the heart of gold sitting on Marie's roof totally unaware of what he had done that day. I will hold that image as one of my favorites to call on when needed.