It was her favorite: tiny Currier and Ives carolers gathered beneath an amber street lamp, silent mouths open wide amid the swirling snow globe blizzard.

Each Christmas I place it on the mantel, cherishing the memory of a mother’s love and joyous laughter echoing with the sweetness of silver sleighbells.

Nick Young is a retired award-winning CBS News Correspondent. In addition to 50-Word Stories, his writing has appeared in more than thirty publications. His first novel, Deadline, was published in September. He lives outside Chicago.