Maury passed away this past weekend and although hospice had already been on site for a while, I still cannot imagine what his wife, Judy, and his children must be feeling so close to Christmas. Christmas is a time to celebrate and be with family. To reminisce of holidays past, over eat, and reconnect with those family members who live to far to see any other time of the year. It shouldn’t be a time to say goodbye to loved ones.
For us, Christmas night is usually spent at Maury’s over dinner and conversation. An added bonus has been the home that he and Judy invited us too for the festivities. To say that Maury was an antique collector would be the largest understatement of 2009. Their home is live-in museum. Literally. I wish I had pictures, but his place had an actual old time general store in it where you could spend hours exploring if you wanted. Every room had a theme and could most likely tell many stories without any words spoken. People toured his home with antique groups, but for us it was just tradition to spend Christmas night there taking it all in and singing off-key Christmas carols.
This year with his passing, I can’t help but think that although we won’t be heading to his home for tours and dinner, he will still be the reason that everyone is together on my dad’s side of the family, even if for one day of the year. I wish it were under different circumstances, but I’m still thankful for the chance to be there with everyone and celebrate once more. This time we will celebrate him, Maury Gambrel.
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