Rocking Around the Christmas Tree—Wilderness Style

Posted by Josh Larsen on January 12, 2015

The holiday season is a difficult time to be away from home and family for all of us. This is especially true for those in treatment. Separated from family, friends, traditions, and the comforts of home – our clients experienced a myriad of emotions during this holiday season that were tremendously and uniquely challenging to bear. This was certainly true also for their families, who shared in their sense of grief over the loss of memories that could have been, but weren’t.

Though my circumstances were vastly different, I found myself apart from my family this Christmas Eve as well. I knew what I was missing back at home. Momma’s peanut brittle. Hot cocoa. Apple cider. Long nights full of games, laughter, and the consumption of more sweets than what should be humanly possible to withstand. More than anything, however, I wished that I could be at home for my family’s greatest holiday tradition – Christmas caroling.

For as long as I can remember, the Larsen family has gathered at Christmas time to sing Christmas carols to cherished friends and neighbors in my small hometown in central Utah. It is a simple thing, really. Not a grand production. Just simple carols sung by simple people. But this long-held tradition is the greatest of what remains from my childhood of the “magic” of this season. For the first time in years, I knew that I was going to miss out on that experience.

Selfishly, I didn’t want to see the season pass without sharing some bit of what brings me joy during the Christmas holiday with others. So, on Christmas Eve, after placing some calls to parents and professionals, I packed my guitar into my trusty 4WD machine, and headed out to the boys of Group 3. “There WOULD be carols!” I resolved. “Oh yes, there would be carols!!”

When I arrived at camp, each of the boys was huddled in their warmest winter garb. THEY looked like the ones who should be caroling to ME. The boys greeted me with smiles, laughter, and warm hugs. They made me feel at home. After our greeting, I gathered the boys around. I told them about my family’s tradition, and how, like them, I wasn’t able to be with my family this year. I asked if they would indulge me as I recreated for them, to the best of my ability, the tradition that had developed a love of this season within me. They graciously accepted.

I wish I could express adequately what happened next. As I fumbled through a number of songs – some of them Christmas songs, some of them not so Christmassy – I felt that same joy that I felt as a boy when, with my family, we sang to those we loved of the silliness and the sincerity of this season. To my surprise the boys sang along with me! We rocked “I’ll Have a Blue Christmas Without You” by Elvis. We rambled through “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree”. The boys treated me like a rock star – and I felt like one. As we brought the evening to a close, the boys sang along softly as I played “Silent Night”. Folks, I don’t know how much more at home I could have felt. The boys offered up their “home” to me, and I couldn’t have been more grateful. This time with the boys of Group 3 on Christmas Eve is now a cherished memory that I will not soon forget.

To the families of those boys, I extend my thanks for sharing your boys with us this Christmas. I know it wasn’t easy for you or for them. I hope that you will know of the goodness within your sons, and the capacity that they showed me this holiday season to be resilient in the face of trial, to give when all you want is to take, and to share meaning in word, in song, and in speechless ways.

Happy New Year from our Second Nature family to yours!

Comments

This is so touching and so poignant. Thank you for sharing Josh! It’s true how often we get to be surprised, inspired, indulged by the greatest .qualities within our clients/students. We are so blessed to be present for those transcendent moments when their true nature, often dormant from years of neglect or denial, shines through with such radiance and warmth. Cheers!

Posted by Elise Mitchell

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