12/22/02 RAYMOND When artist Jerry Hymel got a call asking him to design a Christmas ornament for the White House, he thought it was a prank call.

“I had to check the calendar,” Hymel said and laughed. “And then I said yes ma’am.'”

Hymel’s stained-glass ornament, depicting the state bird, the mockingbird, was chosen from among six submitted by Mississippi artists. Today and throughout the season, it is hanging on the White House’s Christmas tree in the Blue Room, along with ornaments by artists from each of the 50 states.

“The mockingbird is not the prettiest bird, so we added an iridescent stained glass to jazz it up a little,” said the 58-year-old who quit teaching college science courses and started working with stained glass after an accident left him with no use of his legs.

After fitting the specifications of the White House, including strict mailing instructions, Hymel received an invitation to attend a reception at the White House Dec. 4 hosted by first lady Laura Bush.

“Mrs. Bush is top-notch. She treated us like we were the only people who ever visited the White House,” he said. “She acted like we were the most important people who ever came there, and she’s even prettier in person.”

Hymel said after a middle-class upbringing in New Orleans, an invitation to the White House was something of which he never dreamed.

“We’re very fortunate to live in a country that gives us the freedom for ordinary people to do extraordinary things,” Hymel said.

“It was nifty, and the food was good,” Hymel said, laughing.

As Hymel talked about his visit to the White House, he sat where he spends most of his time, in a wheelchair in his studio, an addition to his home in Raymond.

The wheelchair became a required part of his life in 1979, after a tree fell on his shoulder and severed his spinal cord, and the artwork was his choice.

He had thought he might grow an organic garden or raise rabbits, but then a friend suggested he attend a stained-glass course at Hinds Community College.

Hymel’s wife, Paula, hung an ornament of his on her wall at work, where a co-worker saw it and asked to buy it.

“Looking back on that first ornament,” he said. “It was really hokey.”

After the accident, Hymel returned to Hinds in Raymond, where he’d taught anatomy and physiology for 10 years. But he couldn’t keep up.

“So I reluctantly left teaching in 1982.”

At the Raymond Country Fair in 1983, Hymel set up a small display.

“That was the beginning of this winding road I’ve been on ever since,” he said about his business, Our Glass.

He has sold his works at the Old Court House Arts and Crafts Fair more than once.

Hymel’s best-selling items are angels; however, he has designed windows for churches and homes.

“I’ve bought three pieces and I’m back for 10 more,” said customer Dolores Burns, who bought the angels as Christmas gifts.

Hymel’s business has reached heights he never dreamed possible, but remains grounded to his family.

“I’ve been blessed, I have a great wife, two great kids, two great daughters-in-law and three great grandchildren,” Hymel said. “I’ve been lucky.”