MIDLAND, Texas — The holidays are bittersweet for Lydia Frescaz.
There's been a huge void in her family for nearly 30 years.
"My daughter Angela was murdered by her ex-husband. She died in 1992 but it's still like yesterday," Lydia Frescaz, founder of Survivors of Homicide said.
Lydia is part of a club no one wants a membership to.
"My daddy was murdered too, so it's a pain that doesn't go away," Frescaz said.
So imagine trying to find something merry in the middle of that kind of grief.
"You feel like humpty dumpty. Your heart's in pieces, but you've got to glue it together and keep on going," Frescaz said.
Over time, Lydia has learned to move forward and put purpose to her pain, and the pain of dozens of other families.
"I know God takes care of me and they're in heaven and they're happy so I've got to be happy too," Frescaz said.
She and the Midland Victim's Coalition are offering a moment of respite this time of year, a moment of light through the memorial angel tree.
Ornaments representing each loved one lost too soon hang on the tree at Centennial Library. They are our community's angels on earth.
"I don't want anybody to be forgotten, so this is my way of saying you didn't deserve to die but we're going to keep your memory alive," Frescaz said.
Attached to every angel is a story, someone's son or daughter, mother or father, someone who is loved and never forgotten.
"We need to honor them and remember them and never let them be forgotten," Frescaz said.
A changed perspective for the holidays. It's not about what's under the tree, but rather who surrounds it, in person and in memory.