Christmas Reunion Surprise

By Edith Herrington

5:00 a.m. is an ungodly hour for just about anyone. I was busy baking a ham and a turkey for lunch and dinner on Christmas Eve, but I had yet to make the dressing, fruit salad, corn casserole and other necessary side dishes. Luckily I had invited my friend Clara, my next-door neighbor, to help me out, though the reason was not entirely selfish. You see, she had been recently widowed and never had any children of her own, so I thought that rather than spend a Christmas alone she could join our family's festivities.

Of course I did warn her in advance about the noise and activity that would erupt when the mob arrived. I have four children and ten grandchildren, so chaos would be a nice way of describing the scene!

Naturally they all seemed to arrive at once. A flurry of hats and coats made the eyes blurs, and the noise of their entry was like a freight train running straight through my living room. A baby was crying and two other siblings fought over who was going to hold the dog. Clara stood back with her mouth and eyes wide open, aghast at the scene being played out before her. I laughed when I looked at her. She couldn't say I didn't warn her!

Did I dare tell her that there was more to come? Some of our church group was going to stop by later that night. I had cleaned the basement out and converted it into a recreation room for the kids. Thank to the generosity of a friend, I put a borrowed Foosball table in the kids' playroom, plus I somehow managed to install a basketball hoop and dartboard too. Perhaps that's not a big deal to many, but I have two left thumbs when it comes to working with tools!

Around 7:00 p.m., my church friends arrived bearing armloads of covered dishes. The house filled with even more laughter and fond recollections of Christmases past. Lou had brought his video camera over, and it seems we reminisced for hours over coffee and pumpkin pies as we took turns telling each other about significant things that had happened to us over the years. The children were not about to be left out either; grandkids related amusing stories while their siblings squabbled and bickered over the accuracy of the stories.

I slowly gathered the dishes as the guests departed. Mothers gathered children amidst their objections about heading home to bed. Lights dimmed throughout the house as the hectic day began to wind down. My dutiful son helped me place the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and clean the kitchen, and as he did so we talked about how much getting together each Christmas meant to us all. He pledged to make regular visits a priority over the coming year rather than just a holiday occurrence, though it was tough since he lived several hours away.

With a slightly mischievous twinkle in his eye he turned and asked me, "What would you think about us moving in town here?" A big smile spread across my face as I responded, "Of course I would love it!"

"Well, the company I work for has been bought out and merged with another company," he continued. "I don't know if I would be one of the layoffs, but I do know I'm not exactly thrilled with the company's new policies. I have been offered another job here in town, and I thought you might like to have some company on a regular basis."

Choked with emotion I reached out and pulled him close, my arms wrapping around him. This was a mother's ultimate Christmas gift, and he had no idea just how much I really would like that.