Holiday Memories

The last time I saw Brandon alive was when he came to Maryland right after Christmas last year. We went to Mt Vernon, Annapolis, played board games, and some days Brandon took the metro into the city. He was never afraid of checking out a new place, even a large city like D.C. This Christmas my thoughts have been on him a lot. Especially the other night while seeing the Christmas lights on the temple grounds for the first time this year.

On new year's eve 2007, Brandon and I decided to go see the temple lights. Neither of us had been there and we wanted to see them before they were gone. The night was cold. And it was dark. I was being careful to follow Chantel's written instructions for getting on and off the beltway when we came around a bend and suddenly, there was the temple right in front of us. It looked as though it were hanging suspended from the clouds. The lights were everything people said they were, and more. But that's not all. I met a special sister missionary who became a good friend. Her mother and I have experiences in common and my friendship with Sister McEwen lead to a friendship with her mother. The visitor's center was filled with huge Christmas trees, each decorated differently. Brandon soon found a sister missionary whose relation served in Dallas when Brandon did. Brandon always did have a way of finding common ground with others. I think he might have even been a little smitten, but I felt happy that he seemed so happy.

The moment I first saw the temple I felt the spirit and the feeling stayed with me in abundance until we left the grounds a couple of hours later. The memory of that night, how characteristically cheerful Brandon was, and how good to be with him will remain with me, especially whenever I visit the temple grounds on a cold night during the holiday season.