From the December 21, 2023 issue of the Transformational Times
Kathlyn Fletcher, MD MA
In the days running up to the Christmas Holiday, the Transformational Times editors offered reflections. Here, we publish an essay by editorial board member, Dr. Kathlyn Fletcher.
My mom loved snow. When she was alive, she would always call me on the first snow of the year, even when we lived in different states, and it was only snowing where she was. Having a white Christmas was very special to her--almost sacred--and I wished for snow every year because she loved it so much. I grew to love it, too.
One year when I was in high school, we had a stubbornly brown landscape right up to the time that we stepped into the Presbyterian Church on Christmas Eve for the 11:00 PM service. I loved that church service; we sang favorite Christmas carols and ended with Silent Night by candlelight; magical in its consistent simplicity.
We left church that night to find that it was snowing beautiful, large flakes, and the streets were already completely blanketed with the quiet, peace of heavy snow. My mother and both had tears in our eyes as we looked around. It felt like a small gift meant just for us.
My mom loved the Christmas season, and writing this remembrance makes me teary that she is gone and grateful that I had her at all. The holidays will do that to a person. A few years before she died, she recorded herself reading Twas the Night Before Christmas and gave it to my daughter.
Every Christmas Eve, we open the book and listen to her voice reading to us as we sit together in our matching Christmas pajamas. Every year, I feel simultaneous grief and love. It's a hard place to live, but it's worth it. Miss you, Mom.
Kathlyn Fletcher, MD, MA is a professor in the Department of Medicine at MCW and program director of MCW's internal medicine residency. She is a longstanding member of the Transformational Times editorial board.
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