Christmas hasn’t come yet for Ramona Swindall.

The Holly Pond woman is saving her celebrations until her son, an Army medic, returns from duty in South Korea. On her first Christmas away from her son, a phone call was as close as she got.

“Just that phone call was the most wonderful gift I could have gotten for Christmas other than being able to put my arms around him,” Swindall said.

Six thousand miles and fourteen time zones apart, Swindall and her son, Pfc. Kenneth E. “Beau” Hayes, talked about family and home.

“One significant thing he said to me was that the most important thing to him was family,” she said. “He even said he missed the smell of the chicken houses. That’s desperate.”

Hayes, 26, joined the Army in May 2004. His primary occupation was operating machinery at Morton Buildings in Hanceville, but his real concern was helping others, Swindall said. Hayes was a volunteer firefighter in Holly Pond and an emergency medical technician, also working with American Ambulance.

“I think he really went (into the military) because of 9-11,” said his older sister, Lisa Barnes. “He didn’t mind being on the front lines.”

He may be getting even closer to the front lines soon. Barnes said next month, her brother will be transferred to Germany to treat soldiers wounded in Iraq.

“He realizes the danger he would be in, but he wants to go to Iraq to save lives,” Swindall said.

About 30 relatives usually gather for Christmas, Barnes said, but this year’s celebration was much smaller.

“It was quite emotional Christmas morning with him not being there. A few of us got together but it just wasn’t the same,” she said. “It wasn’t the same as when we’re all together.”

“It was a time to praise the Lord and pray for peace, calm and understanding,” Swindall said.

Barnes said even her 1-year-old son Jamison misses his uncle, jumping and pointing at Hayes’ picture on her computer desktop and shouting, Beau, Beau.”

Hayes’ absence compounded the loss of several members of the family in recent years, including his great-grandmother Eunice Brindley Grimes, who Swindall said passed down the values that led to her son’s decision to serve his country.

“She instilled in us love for God and country,” Swindall said. “Our relatives and ancestors have fought in every war to defend freedom and he’s carried that in his heart.”

Hayes’ commanding officers have urged him to leave the service because of a knee injury he sustained in basic training, but he refuses, saying God called him to the military, Swindall said.

Right now, the only decorations at her home are an American flag and a yellow ribbon — which her son asked her to leave up until all the troops come home — but Swindall said when her son returns, that’s when she’ll pull out all the stops.

“I’m just so proud of him and what he’s doing,” she said. “When he felt the calling to go, he went.”