DENVER — This is when they miss her the most, today.

Ebony Vivens was Christmas.

Christmas Eve, that was Mom’s golden hour. That was her time to shine — just like every other time, but with a soundtrack of Christmas carols that she’d start playing on repeat way back in October.

First, they’d swing by Auntie’s house. Then, Grandma’s house. The Vivens are Colorado people, great Colorado people, and when a family’s been here for decades, house-hopping on Christmas Eve is kind of a big deal.

“She’s why we love the holidays so much. Best time of the year,” Colorado State running back A’Jon Vivens tells me. “Christmas, that was her favorite day of the year. She loved Christmas.”

So they miss her right now the most. So A’Jon spent this one exactly how his Mom would want.

Ebony Vivens died from cancer in September. She was 44, and she was loved. Man, was she loved. One chat with A’Jon and I came away thinking Ebony Vivens was the coolest woman who ever blessed these hills. You know what? She very well might have been. Because you know what her 20-year-old baby was doing last week? When his CSU Rams were wrapping up a less-than-ideal season that lasted only four games due to COVID-19 protocols? When he had just lost his beloved Mom, didn’t get a full sophomore year of Mountain West ball, and he should’ve been bummed out?

A’Jon Vivens was organizing a toy drive through Ronald McDonald House in Denver. It was his first toy drive, not his last toy drive, and it’s no coincidence he’s out gifting toys to kids who used to be him, right after his mom died.

“She would’ve loved it,” he says. “That was her thing: ‘What can we do to help people?’”

Few years back, Ebony worked in child services, and a chunk of A’Jon’s high school education was a lesson in service. At Denver Mullen his senior class adopted a family. Mom loved that. A’Jon was a two-time captain at Mullen, a leader then and now. She loved that, too. This season he led CSU in rushing yards. Love, love, love.

“She was a football Mom. She knew the game. She knew all the routes,” he says.

This has been one heartbreaking, difficult, helpless year. Where was the good in 2020, anyway?

All over Colorado sports, for one.

It was in PAC-12 coach of the year Karl Dorrell tracking down Peggy Coppom, the 96-year-old half of CU’s famous twins. Her sister Betty died in August, and that’s one big empty seat when you’ve shared Buffs season tickets since 1958. Dorrell gave his first game ball to Peggy. Peggy cried.

“These are happy tears,” she said.

It was in Broncos offensive lineman Garett Bolles. No one knew about it, but the big guy spent much of the season working with kids grinding through the juvenile probation system. That wasn’t enough give-back for Garett, so he then adopted two young adults experiencing homelessness. It was in Nuggets guard Gary Harris, again saving the day at Clayton Early Learning over in Park Hill. Remember that time I told you about Harris gifting 33,000 diapers and covering four weeks of food for Clayton families, who are struggling right now more than most? Well, last week, without telling anyone, he hooked ’em up with $100 Target gift cards.

“Get whatever you need,” Harris told them.

Bless you, man.

“It was a magical thing,” Clayton’s Susan Hagar says. “He has such a beautiful, generous heart.”

It was in Ebony Vivens, God rest her beautiful, generous soul. A’Jon’s parents are the reason he’s a man of Christian faith. Growing up, his grandfather’s brother served as a Denver preacher, so they’d bounce from church to church, Sunday to Sunday, hearing him spread the Good Word. Come September, A’Jon needed it.

“My dad (LeJon Vivens, a former football star at Northern Colorado) always tells me, ‘It’s easy to trust your faith when things are going well. But it’s in the most difficult situations when you need to trust your faith the most,'” A’Jon says. 

Mom’s greatest gift came in a big-picture box — the gift of perspective. Her kid’s majoring in international studies and political science with designs on, you guessed it, touching lives.

“I want to do a lot of things in life. I’ll say the most important thing is (to) find a way to impact people. Not just here, but around the world,” he said. “You know, there’s hunger around the world. There’s other bad situations. It’s hard for us right now, for me and my family. But there’s a lot of people out there with tough situations. We’re just one. I want to help them.”

A’Jon lost his favorite person and planned a toy drive.

“She definitely gave that to me,” he says.

What a woman. What a legacy. Merry Christmas to all, and to the Vivens family, a good night.