No father should have to spend Christmas Eve in a cemetery.
But it was the only place Neil Heslin could be with his 6-year-old son, who was among the 20 youngsters slain in the Newtown, Conn., massacre.
Heslin last saw his adored son, Jesse Lewis, Dec. 13, when the two went Christmas shopping.
“He was rambling on about how this was going to be the best Christmas ever. We got into the whole meaning of Christmas, about giving and not receiving,” Heslin recalled.
“I told him, ‘What makes it happy for me is giving to you and seeing you happy.’
“And the next day — that happened.”
Douglas Healey
SAD HOLIDAY: Neil Heslin yesterday visits the grave of his cherished 6-year-old son, Jesse Lewis.
Jesse died a hero. Witnesses said he’d been leading other children to safety when he was gunned down by Adam Lanza.
“I really looked forward to Christmas every year with him,” Heslin said at the Zoar Cemetery, where he and Jesse’s mom planted a rosebush and spruce tree on either side of their little boy’s grave.
“I won’t have any Christmas presents to wrap this year,” he said.
Although Jesse’s parents are no longer together, he used to see them both for the holiday. He’d spend Christmas Eve with his dad while his mom, Scarlett Lewis, finished last-minute shopping.
Then he’d spend Christmas Day with her.
His favorite Christmas decorations were 3-foot-tall wooden nutcrackers — nearly as tall as Jesse.
“He loved them,” his dad said. “He wanted to put them out for every holiday.”
On their last night together, Jesse was busy shopping for others.
“He picked out two Christmas ornaments for [his teacher], Ms. [Victoria] Soto [who was killed] . . . then he got one for his mom, one for his brother, J.T., and one for his best friend, Daniel,” Heslin said.
For Soto, Jesse picked a star and an apple. His mother and brother were to get snowflakes, and he chose a horse for Daniel, since the pals took riding lessons together.
“He bought them with his own money,” Heslin said proudly. “That was money he earned himself, doing odd jobs. He collected bottles too, and brought them to the redemption center.”
Jesse never got the chance to deliver the ornaments, so his dad did it for him.
And yesterday, he made sure his son wasn’t alone for the holiday, even though that meant sitting by his grave instead of by a Christmas tree.
“Boy, was he wrong about this being the best Christmas ever,” Heslin said.
bdefalco@nypost.com
Alone together: Grieving dad at Jesse’s grave
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Alone together: Grieving dad at Jesse’s grave
