A Christmas Eve I’ll Never Forget

In 2018, I covered one of the saddest stories of my TV news career—a story that has stayed with me ever since.

It was Christmas Eve, and instead of being at home with Maria, Ellie, and Remy, I was working. It had been years since I’d had to work both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and I remember feeling sorry for myself. The holidays are meant for family, and I wanted to be there with mine.

That evening, I was sent to cover a candlelight vigil in Blue Springs, Missouri. The vigil was for three teenage boys who had tragically lost their lives in a car crash. The air was cold, heavy with grief, and the faces of the high school students who gathered to honor their friends were etched with pain.

Standing there, camera in hand, I felt a wave of guilt. Here I was, wallowing in self-pity because I wasn’t home for the holidays, yet these young people had lost their friends—three lives gone far too soon. I was reminded of how lucky I am. I was alive. I had a family to return to.

Being a journalist isn’t easy, especially during moments like that. The emotional weight of such stories is real. As much as I tried to remain objective and professional, the sorrow in that crowd was palpable, and it stayed with me long after the vigil ended.

In the years since that night, I’ve thought about those three young men more times than I can count. At least a dozen times a year, their story comes back to me. It’s a reminder of life’s fragility and the importance of cherishing the time we have with the people we love.

I don’t want to get political, but there’s something that still angers me about the “fake news” rhetoric that became so loud in recent years. Covering stories like that vigil isn’t about politics or agendas. It’s about humanity. There was nothing fake about the grief I witnessed that night or the heartbreak in the voices of those mourning teenagers.

Christmas Eve 2018 changed me. It reminded me why I became a journalist—to tell stories, to capture moments that matter, and, hopefully, to remind others of what’s truly important in life.