beaten cancer once. his whole family hopes the second time is the last. we are so blessed to have come here. never experienced something like this. it s more than a family. so, we re very lucky. you have to live day by day and feel good. reporter: ralph s kids in florida are hoping for the greatest gift of all, dad at home for christmas dinner. gloria plans to celebrate with her family in the bronx. but for them and for all those here, the society of memorial sloan-kettering will be here all year with reminder of life s everyday joys. merry christmas. you have to be happy with whatever you have. it can be worse. i wake up, i say, thank you, god. now, where is christmas? where it is? now i see them singing, i say, i can have christmas again that s the jingle bell that s the jingle bell that s the jingle bell rock gloria, ralph, their families and all of those at memorial
really wonderful surprise. reporter: the merry band of volunteers was ready but there was one elf missing. and then we were off singing classic carols, delivering donated gift bags stuffed like stockings and spreading cheer to patients and staff alike. this is good for my breathing in and out. ho, ho, ho. that s it. merry christmas! it makes it feel like christmas and hanukkah and the new year. special times. it makes it feel like the holidays for all of us. ho, ho, ho. merry christmas. reporter: gloria lopez calls memorial sloan-kettering her second home. you don t feel like you are sick.
a lot of tears. i want you to take a look at the memorial now which continues to grow. candles, flowers, cards, more wreaths coming as the days go on. police officers from precincts around the city, firemen, sanitation workers, everyone coming here to grieve together. the mayor was here this morning, abby. he came with officer ramos pastor. ironically, officer ramos was studying to become a chaplain. abby? sad stuff there, adam. this is blake in the studio. bill de blasio right in the middle of this. on the one hand he has liberal protesters, ideological and political allies of his he tried to lower the temperature a bit and called on protesters to cool it. let s listen to this clip for a minute. it s a time to step back and just focus on these families. it s time for everyone to put aside political debates, protests, everything we will talk about in due time. but in the coming days, two families prepare for funerals. two families try to think about how to piece their