A Gift of Love
I have a story to tell you, a story of undying love, of holding on to life to express that love, and the greatest gift of all, the gift that the Christ Child brought to us.
You see, Almighty God loves us, unconditionally, and that love was expressed when he sent his son to us. Today, we celebrate the birth of Jesus by giving each other gifts, a somewhat commercialized activity to be sure, but the meaning behind the gifts is what counts.
This story is about Nathaniel H. Melbert, D.D. Methodist Minister par excellance. A good man, a man with presence who commanded attention in any room he walked into but a humble man too. Well, most of the time. Here, let me tell my story:
Nat Melbert was the greatest human being I have ever known. I first met him in 1947 after returning from Germany with my family, and although I don’t remember it, I’m told he gently held me in his arms as he baptized me as a Christian, dedicated to Christ, to be raised in love. And love he did. You see, Nat Melbert was my grandfather.
We called him Daddy Bah, and he was a Methodist Preacher’s Methodist Preacher if you know what I mean. He could give a fire and brimstone sermon with the best of them, and tell tales of the Christ so moving, you had tears in your eyes as you pondered the meaning of what you had been told. This towering giant of a man, this man who was my relative, but more importantly my friend had a favorite day of the year, and that day was Christmas!
Although I spent many Christmases with my grandparents, it was never enough. Hearing Daddy Bah read the story of the Birth of Christ was something that everyone in my family always cherished, and looked forward to.
In September 1984 I received a call that Daddy Bah had been taken to the hospital and wasn’t expected to make it over the weekend. I was living in the Rio Grande Valley then, and rushed up to San Antonio, crying most of the way, for the loss that I already felt. An important part of my life was about to be cut out by the very thing that ends all life – Death! Reaching my parent’s home, my Uncle Jimmy walked out of the kitchen door and said “Rumors of your grandfather’s impending death are greatly exaggerated,” and relief swept through me like a wall of water rushing down a chasm sweeping all the fear and sorrow before it. Uncle Jimmy gave me the name of the Hospital and room number that Daddy Bah was in and I rushed over there, walked in and was met with a still hale and hearty (though somewhat diminished by age and illness) “Hi, Guy, come to see me are you?”
Daddy Bah recovered and he and my grandmother moved in with my Uncle Jimmy and Aunt LaVerne in Houston. Daddy Bah was a great fan of Baseball and Houston WAS the home of the Astros. But he also needed to be watched over and Jimmy and Laverne were just the folk able then to do it with as much love as one can possibly handle.
Christmas of 1984 rolled around in time’s way of having one day follow the next, and my family and I on Christmas Eve drove from Beaumont to my parent’s home in San Antonio. We stopped in Houston to see Jimmy and LaVerne, and of course Daddy Bah and Mye Mye, our grandmother. Daddy Bah was just about worn out, his body had existed on God’s green earth for more than 94 years and was worn out. A friend of mine says that at the end of life, we should be sliding into home, completely worn out and shouting Yee-Ha! What a ride. That would have been Daddy Bah!
We spent an hour or so with him and the family then resumed our trek to San Antonio. The story that follows I did not witness, but you can believe it none-the-less.
Christmas Morning, 1984 awoke bright and crisp in Houston, and in San Antonio. Presents were opened, joy shared but in Houston, one of the greatest of interactions between a husband and wife played out, one last time. Daddy Bah, in bed struggled to say “Waaaa…” and Aunt Laverne picked up on that immediately… “Do you want some water Dad?”
“Waaaa…..” Said Daddy Bah.
“Nat,” said Mye Mye, “do you need some water?”
“Waaaa….” He Repeated.
A lightbulb went off in my Aunt’s head, “Watch,” she thought to herself. Because you see, Daddy Bah had spent some of his healthier times shopping for a special gift for his beloved Eppie. Ethel as others knew her, Mye Mye to the grand kids and the great grand kids. A Watch, for Eppie.
Laverne handed the package to Daddy Bah and he slowly, but with a love that few have known, handed his Christmas gift to Mye Mye!
You see, the Watch was important to him, not because it was a watch; though it was. It was important to him, not because it was Christmas; though it was. It was important to him because it was a gift of love, a gift that the Christ Child bestowed on all of us some 33 or so years after his birth. And that, indeed is what Christmas symbolized to Daddy Bah, the gift of love, because love he did, and everyone who knew him loved him back.
Daddy Bah slipped into the soft gentle hands of God sometime in the night, he would no longer be with us, but would be forever with God. We shall someday join him but until then, think as he did, when you give something to someone this Christmas, do it not because giving isimportant, do it from love, because Love is most important and the most important gift you can give.
Merry Christmas Everyone!
First Published @ GM’s Corner, December-2007
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Comments
I remember this story, and it is sweeter with the retelling.
Merry Christmas!
Thanks, I get a little tear in my eye everytime I’ve read it and I’ve told, and re-told this story for 25 years now. It never grows stale for me.