IT'S ALL ABOUT FAMILY

Lynn and Kairo Forbes invite us into their home as they prepare for their second Christmas without AKA

- NOKUTHULA ZWANE-EJIKE

THE sound of Ma- riah Carey’s hit All I Want for Christmas is You fills the house, presents are piled around the tree and even Louie the Boston terrier has got into the mood, shuffling around sporting a funky festive headband.

All in all it’s pretty safe to say the Christmas spirit is alive and well in this house – and for Lynn Forbes this year is a little bit extra-special. It’s the second Christmas since her son, Kiernan – the rapper known as AKA – was shot dead outside a Durban restaurant and she’s finding some joy in life again.

Last Christmas was very quiet but this year she and members of her family have come toge- ther every Sunday in the four weeks leading up to the 25th to embrace advent traditions.

“Advent is our countdown to the joy of the nativity,” Lynn (56) tells YOU after welcoming us into her home in the north of Johannesburg. “We set up our advent wreath and tree. Each candle on our wreath burns with the promise of peace, hope, love and joy and Sunday lunches are a time for reflection and a celebration of these virtues.”

No one loves these get-togethers more than Kairo, Lynn’s nineyear-old granddaughter. She and Glammy, as she calls Lynn, have started a new tradition, she says. “Each time we do a good deed we add a piece of straw to the manger in our nativity scene. The idea is to do as many acts of kindness as possible before Christmas.”