It was their tradition. Every Christmas, this Traverse City couple spent the day together, just the two of them.
The husband died earlier this year. For his 74-year-old widow, that has meant trying to learn to go on without him after 30 years of married life.
Not long ago, she heard how students at Traverse City's alternative public high school had started a pantry to collect food, personal grooming and other items.
That piqued her interest, so she took over several dozen bottles of shampoo and hair conditioner. While she was there, she learned that a lot of the teens at the school are homeless. The pantry they started was their way of helping each other -- providing a range of items that any of them could draw from.
When she went back a second time with more donations, an idea was taking shape. Why not invite some of the homeless students to spend Christmas day in her home, with her?
"Don't misunderstand me," she said. "I'm well-loved by my children and grandchildren, but Christmas day my husband and I just spent the two of us. We didn't make demands on the children, they had in-laws and other things to do. So we always spent Christmas day together and enjoyed it."
And this year?
"I just want to share that day and just be with the students," she said. "I just want ... to have them be in a home with a fire in the fireplace. I want them to help me cook the meal, to participate, to be part of a family, so to speak; to put the music on, wrap some gifts for them, something warm."
The school's principal didn't know how many, if any, students could take her up on such an invitation. He said that often, kids without homes end up spending the holiday with relatives or friends.
But that won't stop this woman from extending the offer.
"What intrigued me was that these young people are trying -- in spite of the adversity in their lives -- they are trying to get an education," she said. "They are not just whining and sitting back and saying, 'I can't do it.' They're forging ahead with their lives."
And she'd like to be of support.
"I like to help make a difference in someone's life," she said. "That's what I'm good at.
"I'm not good at Rollerblading or anything like that. But I am good at loving people."
Reach Kathy Gibbons care of the Record-Eagle or at gibbonskath@yahoo.com.
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