Nancy

I'm not much of a praying person. When/ if I do pray it's usually a "there's no atheists in foxholes" kind of a situation. But when I do, I usually end it with a message to to any of my angels who might be listening. I guess it makes praying more believable if you're praying to souls you've known "in the flesh" rather than the Creator of the universe. I'll keep that list of angels private...but if you know me, you know who they are.
So that brings me to you Nancy. There I was standing in the lobby of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Loganville, Georgia about to be a pall bearer at your funeral. You immediately got added to my list of angels. We'd had lunch together not a full day before you left us. For the first time since we met, you hugged me and said "I love ya'....I'm proud of ya..." But there I was just days later in the lobby of that church, asking my newest angel how to make my bride smile again.
Christmas wasn't good - she went through motions and went to church and lit candles and acted like all was right with her world. But it really wasn't. It only served to remind her how much you loved Christmas. Just days before she was elated that you'd put up your "dream tree" in the living room....a tree that Rich's would've been proud to light on Thanksgiving night (yeah, I'm showing my age.) But then you weren't there to see it lit on Christmas morning.
When I first started dating the woman that became my bride, you were the friend I was most worried about meeting. I knew you cared so much for her that if I didn't pass your inspection, it might be a deal breaker. Thank God you approved. So much so that you bought me a Christmas gift that very first Christmas. I exhaled because I guess that meant I passed the test.
I'll be hollering at you quite often in the weeks, months and years to come. I know there's going to be times when the hole you've left can only be filled by your laugh, your hard head and your determination. And not just for her - you provided a swift kick to my posterior on more than one occasion....I'm sure I'm going to need more. So, for me, you're heaven's newest angel...I know you're making the other angels behave!