Christmas with My Friend Helen

Today, I went to see my friend Helen who is 99 years old. For twenty-two years Helen and I have shared a warm friendship which I treasure dearly. But today when I greeted Helen, she was initially a little foggy about who I was. After about five minutes, which seemed much, much longer to me, she smiled from ear to ear and, with tears, said that yes she did remember who I was, and she was delighted that I came to visit. Helen then asked about the Church where we first met, the priest we both knew, and how my two sons were doing. We spent an hour together reminiscing when she asked how my mother was doing. Well, I really hated bringing up sad news about death with a 99 year old, but I told her the truth that my mother died just recently, suddenly in her sleep and she was not even sick. I told her how hard it was to lose my mother so suddenly when she was only 78, and I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye. Helen held my hand so tightly and we were both in tears ,and she said, “Don’t worry, you’re mother's last thought before she died was about the daughter she truly loved. Love was on her mind at that final hour”. I've got to say that this was the most comforting thing anyone said to me since my mother died. And this from such a wonderful woman who never had any children of her own. Could God have given me a more special Christmas present? I think not. Merry Christmas, my good friend. Merry Christmas.