We Need A Little Christmas

Kim and I have been directing and working on the play “Mame” at the Baytown Little Theater recently. A featured musical number in the show is the song, “Need a Little Christmas” in which Mame, her nephew and faithful staff sings and decorates their house in an attempt to capture a spirit of cheer. Set in the depression era and the great Stock Market Crash, Mame suddenly finds herself without funds to pay her staff and barely enough money to eat more than Shredded Wheat for dinner. Knowing that Christmas is the one time of year when they are happy and even though their situation is bleak, they realize their need for the holiday.

Like Mame, we also need a little Christmas. Not just the holiday with the lights, ornaments, trees, and gifts, but Christ the child for which Christmas is celebrated. We need Christ in our lives. God sent his son to be born in a manger on a cold winter night in Bethlehem. He sent us a little Christmas in the form of Baby Jesus to save us from our sins and our earthly struggles.
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.

The phone rings and a creditor demands payment. We need a little Christmas. A loved one has passed from this life. We need a little Christmas. Hurtful words pierce our hearts and forgiveness is difficult. We need a little Christmas. The teen stormed out of his parent’s house with shouts of hate. We need a little Christmas. A single mother weeps as she puts her child to bed without a hot meal in her belly. We need a little Christmas. The laborer’s only vehicle to work sits dead on the driveway. We need a little Christmas. We are losing faith. We need a little Christmas.
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.

Christ is born. Glory to God!

(Scriptures: Luke 2:11-12, 13-14)

Today Is December 9

My attempts to post a blog entry lately came up with shallow content. I wrote and deleted; posted and deleted. Nothing seemed to convey where my thoughts have been.

Then, a while ago I noticed the date. Grading student assignments and posting dates for tomorrow, I'd not paid attention to the date. So when my eyes fell on today's date at the top of a friend's blog, all I saw was December 9, 2008 and it hit me. Today is my daddy's birthday. He would have been 90 years old today. It's hard for my mind to wrap around that Daddy could have been that old. He's still 77 to me. Right where he was when he left us.

(The photo above shows the six Ritchey siblings. My daddy is sitting in the chair on the left.)
Born Elton Lavarne or Lavorne (Mama Ritchey wasn't even for sure which spelling was correct) Ritchey, nicknamed "Jiggs" was born December 9, 1918 in Oklahoma. He was the fourth of six siblings born to John Renrick. and Beulah James Ritchey.

Remembering where he was and how he looked the last time I saw him alive, I recall that physical person I saw wasn't actually my daddy anymore. Alzheimer's disease took my daddy's mind away and when it did, he was gone too.




Adjectives that described my daddy would be kindhearted, loving, Christian, firm, soft-hearted, loyal husband, wise, intelligent, self-motivated, lifelong learner, carpenter, handyman, gardener, country music fan, guitar player, singer, comedian and grandfather. I could probably go on and on.

Daddy once started out to drive back to his parent's house in Ryan, OK from Port Neches, TX. He was going to visit my grandparents and help his dad do some home repairs. My brothers and I were in school and so we stayed back with Mom. Daddy was an hour away when Mom answered a phone call from him saying that he just couldn't make the trip without us. Daddy rarely ever went somewhere overnight without us. Even when he worked for some people on their beachhouses in Galveston, we got to join him for the weekend. Daddy was always working a second job of some kind to help the family income.











It is such a shame that my grandchildren never knew my daddy. He would have loved them so much and they would have thought he was just great.







Like I do.

Mame Opens at the BLT

Mame at the Baytown Little Theater.

Even though putting a play on is a whole lot of trouble, it is quite gratifying when it all comes together. Mame opened last Friday night and played three performances of the musical over the weekend. It continues this next weekend with three more shows. No matter how hard it got to pull all the details together, I kept telling myself that there was an end in sight. No matter what happened the play will end December 14. I am happy to say, the play is very good and apparently the community thinks its a good show too because all the remaining performances are sold out.