The Angel

 It was Christmas 1957 in Danville, Virginia at the Ascension Lutheran Church.  The minister asked one of the good ladies of the church, Frances Spencer, to decorate a Christmas tree for the sanctuary.  But Frances had a problem.

 

She did not want to disappoint her minister, but she couldn’t see having a secular Christmas tree in her church sanctuary.  Christmas was a celebration of Christ’s birth, not a time to glorify Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, and Rudolf.  Suddenly, she had an idea . . . a brilliant idea!

 

Rather than placing traditional ornaments on the tree, she would make white and gold monograms that would represent Christ and Christianity.  She named these new ornaments, “Chrismons,” a cross of Christ and Monogram.  

 

This new practice spread quickly and soon many churches started to have a “Chrismon Tree.”  The First United Methodist Church of Lexington had the first Chrismon Tree in town under the leadership of Miheepa Jones.  When Al Martin arrived at First Baptist Church in 1974, he invited Miheepa to join several First Baptist members and they visited the Ascension Lutheran Church in Danville to learn about a Chrismon Tree.  Soon after the visit, First Baptist Church had their first Chrismon Tree.  

 

The original Chrismons, all handcrafted by church members, were showing their age by the early 2000s.  Several ladies, including Brenda Barton and my wife, Joyce, decided that it was time to create new Chrismons.  

 

Frances Spencer was now creating patterns for Chrismons, but was having a hard time finding the beads needed to make the ornaments.  In 1964, she connected with Harold and Barbara Rufty of Salisbury, North Carolina.  They were able to get beads through suppliers in New York and Japan.  Mrs. Spencer gave them permission to copyright the name “Chrismon” and Rufty’s Chrismon Shop was born.  This is where Joyce and several other ladies went to take Chrismon classes.  

 

Joyce could do most anything with her hands.  She sewed, cross-stitched, crocheted, quilted, and knitted.  She quickly fell in love with Crismons.  

 

Over the next few years Joyce and other ladies from our church took dozens of classes at Rufty’s in Salisbury.  She became good friends with women from all over the state who came for classes.  Gradually, the aging old Chrismons on our tree were replaced with over 200 beautiful new Chrismons.  Each Chrismon had a story and Joyce knew them all.  

 

In 2021, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I had a local urologist, but when I found out that I had cancer, I decided to find a Wake Forest Baptist urologist in case I would need surgery.

 

Joyce had a wonderful urologist at Baptist, Dr. Catherine Matthews. Joyce had a procedure the previous year and Dr. Matthews gave me her cell phone number and told me to call her if I ever needed anything.  I called her and told her what was going on.

 

She immediately said, “I am going to refer you to my colleague, Dr. Ashok Hemal.”  Little did I know that I about to meet one of the most renowned robotic surgeons in the world.  

 

Dr. Hemal is from India.  He is a pioneer in robotic surgery.  In the 1980s, he was doing this innovative surgery in Paris.  He introduced robotic surgery to our country.  He is not only a gifted surgeon, but also a professor at the medical school.  

 

I quickly came to admire and respect Dr. Hemal.  He is one of the most humble men I have ever known.  Once when I thanked him for helping me with my cancer, he said, “I just use the gifts God has given me to the best of my ability.”  And what an amazing ability he has!  

 

We scheduled a radical robotic prostatectomy for August 16, 2021, at Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem.  I knew that I would be in the hospital for at least two nights.  I told Joyce that I didn’t want her to stay overnight at the hospital with me.  “I will be fine,” I said.  “They will take good care of me.  I want you to go home so you can rest.”

 

Of course, Joyce didn’t listen to me.  She was with me from the minute we arrived for surgery until I was discharged two days later.  

 

When Dr. Hemal walked in to see us before the surgery, Joyce told him that she was praying for him and many others were also.  I could tell he was genuinely touched. 

 

I knew it would take several days to get the pathology report.  When Dr. Hemal called to give me the news, he said with a cheery voice, “Praise the Lord!  You are cancer free!”

 

During the time we were in the hospital and after we came home, Joyce was busy making a Chrismon.  I didn’t pay much attention at first, because Joyce was always making a Chrismon.  But as time went on, I could tell that she was making something very special.  

 

She created a beautiful angel.  She told me that Dr. Hemal was our angel and she wanted to give the angel to him.  When we had our follow-up visit, she did.  

 

He seemed very grateful.  I thought he would probably put the angel somewhere in his office, maybe even a closet.  But when we came for our next visit, Dr. Hemal told us about taking the angel home and how much his wife loved it.  He said, “We have the angel in a prominent place in our home.”  

 

From then on, every visit with Dr. Hemal started with a long expression of gratitude to Joyce for the gift of the angel.  

 

A few months ago, Dr. Hemal contacted me and asked if I would be willing to meet with someone from the philanthropy department.  In his typical humble way he said, “They are doing something for me.  I don’t know much about these things.”

 

I met with Linda Mays and Michelle Caldwell.  They explained that Wake Forest Baptist wanted to establish an endowed professorship in urology in honor of Dr. Hemal. The goal is to raise one million dollars. 

 

We decided to have a dinner in Dr. Hemal’s honor.  There were four cancer survivors, four Dr. Hemal alumni, four grateful men who are now cancer free because Dr. Hemal used his God-given gifts to heal us:  Robin Team, Burr Sullivan, Linwood Bunce and myself.  We were joined by Michelle Caldwell, Burr’s wife, Rebecca, Ed Crowder who is head of the Philanthropy Department, Dr. Soroush Rais-Bahrami, Chair of the Urology Department, and his wife Laura, and Dr. Ashok Hemal and his wife, Upma. 

 

It was a remarkable evening, one I will never forget.  Dr. Hemal wanted his picture made with the four of us and we were all able to express our profound gratitude to him.  

 

Robin Team opened the dinner with heartfelt remarks and a toast.  I followed with some remarks and a prayer.  I thanked Dr. Hemal for using his God-given gifts so that we could continue to use ours.  He deflected all of the praise by saying, “to God be the glory.”  

 

One of Dr. Hemal’s nurses told me that he never forgets a patient.  That is incredible considering the fact he has performed over 3,000 surgeries at Baptist. 

 

Dr. Hemal spoke about all four of us.  He remembered the dates of our surgery.  He could tell you the Gleason score assigned to us after our biopsy.  He shared something personal about each one of us.  

 

When Dr. Hemal walked in the door for the dinner, he told me that he had something to show me.  He opened his phone and showed me a picture of the angel Joyce had made for him.  His wife, Upma, shared how much the angel meant to both of them.

 

Dr. Hemal shared with the group that he remembered how Joyce was always with me.  She was there at the hospital, at each doctor’s appointment; always there to support me and to care for me. 

 

When we were leaving, Dr. Hemal hugged me and said, “You know how Joyce was always with you in the hospital.  She is still with you.  She will never leave you.” 

 

Joyce is now my angel.