For several years, now, our entire family has gone to the local hospital every Christmas afternoon in order to perform 5 to 10 minute mini-shows from room to room for the patients unfortunate enough to have to spend the holiday laid up. Our girls unanimously agreed that they wanted to go again this year.  So, after the gifts were opened, pork pie eaten and new clothes tried on and modeled, we drove the short three mile trip to our town's hospital.

This year there were more patients than we have ever seen on a Christmas afternoon.  We probably did nine or ten shows, sometimes for a single patient, sometimes for patients with large groups of visitors.  I opened each visit by introducing ourselves, then doing a three ball routine to "Jingle Bells".  Then Rose came in and produces several boxes of flowers from an empty bag, followed by Jona-Lynn doing a linking rings routine.  After this, I juggled with all three of our girls, ending with Naomi and Rose juggling machetes "Borrowed from the operating room!"  Then Naomi produced a batch of balloons from an empty dove pan.  My wife, Sue, wrapped up the visit by turning the balloons into animal sculptures for all those present.  We left them with a Christmas card that gently shared the Gospel, we packed up and moved on to the next room.

One of the patients we visited was the daughter of Lucille, a lady who used to go to our church.  Her mom died a few years ago, but I will always remember her.  20 years ago, after our first show at what was then our new church, I was concerned if the older folks in the church would understand what we were trying to do with our magic, loud music, etc. Lucille, who was already elderly, spoke with us afterwards and said she liked what we did so much she wanted us to do a show at her son's church a few towns away.  Not only that, she helped make the contacts we needed in order to set that gig up.  Now, all these years later, I was proud we could be a blessing to her daughter on what would otherwise have been a lonely Christmas afternoon.