 William Boyd shares a special story
Bowie County Life/Texarkana Gazette, January 5, 2011
by Pam Kumpe
William Boyd Chisum, the
lead singer with Southern Grace
Quartet, remembers a special
memory at Christmas during a
time when he thought he was
all alone in the hospital.
“I was a young boy and all
alone in the hospital. All the
other children in this hospital
had been discharged in order
that they might spend the
holidays with their families. I,
however, was not able to be
released and found myself the
only child left for a skeleton
crew of nurses who were going
to take care of me. I was just too
sick to go home,” Chisum said.
Christmas Eve night the
nurses wheeled his bed out by
the nurses so he would have
someone to talk to and so he
could talk to his parents on the
phone.
“My parents were not able to
travel the more than 10 hours
in order to come see me on
Christmas. As I tried to keep
my quivering bottom lip from
the view of those who were
watching, I told my parents I
understood. But, I really didn’t
understand. All I could think
of was that I was all alone and
Santa Claus would never find
me in that hospital,” Chisum
said.
He hung up the phone and the
nurses began prodding him to
play his guitar and to lead them
in some Christmas carols.
“It was just an effort on their
part to help me to put the conversation
I had just had behind
me. We sang for what seemed
like forever, and shared a cup of
hot chocolate. As they wheeled
my bed back into an empty
ward B, the echo of their footsteps
in a completely empty
ward reminded me of how forgotten
I truly thought I was. I
felt like a misfit toy lost on the
island of misfit toys,” Chisum
said.
He went to sleep that night
looking at all the Christmas
lights out his window since
they were lighting up the sky
in downtown Dallas. He prayed
that someone would remember
him on Christmas Day and
wondered who that might be,
not having any idea that his
prayer was also on Jesus’ birthday.
“I woke up when the ward
lights came on with a nurse
telling me to ‘wake up it’s
Christmas.’ I needed to have
breakfast, get my bath over with
and get dressed. A nurse told
me that you never know who
might come to see you. Well,
I figured nobody knew I was
even in this hospital, except my
parents. So no one was coming.”
Just as he finished getting
dressed, Chisum heard voices.
He thought it was many voices,
and they made their way down
the hall to Ward B where he
was in the bed. The double
swinging doors suddenly burst
open as a group of people, all
kinds of people he had never
met before came in, wishing
him a Merry Christmas and
carrying beautifully wrapped
presents of all sizes.
As they piled them onto his
bed, he could hear them all say
that Santa Claus had dropped
these presents off with them to
makes sure he received them.
“Sure enough each package
had a name tag on it and my
name was on each one. I had not
been forgotten. Jesus had heard
my prayers that Christmas Eve,
and it wasn’t the presents that I
was so happy for. It was that I
realized that I was not a misfit
toy lost on an island of misfit
toys. The gift for me that
Christmas was that I had been
remembered, Chisum said.
“As I look back on it now I
realize that the story of Jesus
coming to earth was all about
sending the message to a world
of misfits. God had come to
make all things new, and he’s
saying, all through the ages I
remember you.”
This same message is the one
Southern Grace Quartet brings
to their concerts, a reminder
that God remembers who each
person is, and where he or she
is on any given night, even
Christmas.
Chisum is the lead singer, Roy
Dale Bray sings baritone, Chip
Bricker plays piano and sings
bass, Joe Ayers sings tenor and
Don Peace plays bass guitar.
To book Southern Grace, you
can go to their Website southerngracequartet.
com.
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