It was the Christmas after a good friend of hers passed away that Jackie MacLaron and her friend’s three-year-old son hung a tag of remembrance to honour her friend and his mother.

MacLaron was one of the founding members of Hospice Yukon and among those who organized the Lights of Life ceremonies in Whitehorse in its early years when she and the little boy hung the tag.

Knowing he would be helping MacLaron decorate her own tree that year, he asked to put a tag on that tree as well and the one he would have at his home that year, MacLaron recalled early Thursday afternoon. She was speaking to the crowd gathered in the lobby of the Elijah Smith Building for the annual Lights of Life ceremony.

The tags came home and circumstances intervened over the years that would see MacLaron raise him after he came to live at her home when he was 11.

Year after year, the tag honouring his mother has been part of the family’s Christmas tree tradition, giving the boy a chance to think about his mother.

That tag is in California, where the now-27-year-old is living.

“This is his first Christmas he won’t be home,” MacLaron said, pointing out that with his tag he will carry on acknowledging and honouring his mother in his new home.

When MacLaron told him she would be speaking at and attending the Lights of Life ceremony, he had a request. He asked that she hang a tag in memory of his Nana, who had passed away earlier this year.

And so MacLaron was set to hang the tag in memory of his Nana.

MacLaron focused on the theme of letting go and holding on.

She said it’s difficult to go through traditions without a loved one who would normally be there; that often it’s seen as letting go, but it can also be a place to hang on to memories of loved ones and reflect as he has done from the age of three.

“That’s what gives us resilience,” she said just before the first memory tags were hung.

For many, the annual Lights of Life ceremony has become a quiet tradition of the season to remember loved ones who have passed.

A large crowd braved the temperatures that crept beyond -40 C with the wind chill to take in the noon-hour ceremony, which began with the voices of the Persephone Singers.

Music by the choir could be heard at various points in the ceremony in between words from Hospice Yukon officials and volunteers.

Now in its 26th year, the ceremony provides a place where people can express their grief and remember those they are missing amidst the holiday festivities.

Hospice works to provide comfort to those who are grieving.

As Hospice Yukon chair Deb Fendrick said, the original hospices centuries ago were offered as shelters where weary travellers could rest.

Today’s hospices are there to offer rest and comfort to those needing help as they deal with death or the death of a loved one.

Fendrick said she hopes those who gathered can take comfort in the Lights of Life tradition.

Kip Veale is a long-time volunteer with Hospice Yukon who was also the master of ceremonies for Thursday’s event.

She also said it’s her hope the ceremony will allow those in the community to remember loved ones, including pets they have lost, in a special way.

Before the first tags were hung, a blessing was read.

Those wanting to hang a memory tag or bring one home to hang on their own tree can do so at the Elijah Smith Building from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays until next Wednesday.

Next Thursday, the trees will be available until 1 p.m.

Tree sitters will be on hand throughout the week to talk, listen or just be a presence for those who visit the trees.

Similar trees are also available with memory tags at Hospice House, Yukon College, the Whitehorse General Hospital, Macaulay Lodge, Copper Ridge Place, the Thomson Centre, the Kwanlin Dun Wellness Centre, Heritage North Funeral Home, the Youth of Today Society, and at the Yukon government’s alcohol and drug services building.