Last week my article titled “Remembering the true meaning of Christmas” was written about how times have changed and how the true meaning of Christmas has been lost in the process. I talked about how important it was to be with your family and share the Christmas spirit and make memories.

It is said God works in mysterious ways, and everything happens for a reason, and we are not to question him. With this being said, I feel that I must tell you about my Christmas and Christmas past.

It was eight years ago on Dec. 23 that we received a phone call from the Hammond Police Department and arrived at the hospital to learn that my mother had passed away. It was about 6:30 a.m., and she had suffered a heart attack. We had services for her on Dec. 24.

Last year on Dec. 24, we received a phone call that my father had passed away from a heart attack. We had Christmas and laid him to rest Dec. 27.

This year on Dec. 23 at about 6 a.m. we received a phone call and went to be with my sister, who passed away at 6:50 a.m. We would now have to say good-bye to her and bury her on Dec. 27, her 68th birthday and the same day we buried our father last year.

What are the chances of losing several family members at Christmas, only years apart, and that both of them would pass away on the same day, around the same time? We shouldn’t question, but I wonder if I might lose another family member next year at Christmas.

We never know when and shouldn’t question why, so remember to take time for family, love them with all your heart, and make time for friends at Christmas and all through the year.

In loving memory of my one

and only sister, Shelby Jean Norwood Courtney, who has gone to

be with the Lord, until we meet again.

Wayne Norwood is a lieutenant with the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Department and owner and operator of the Louisiana Treasures Museum.