Part 24
Anna took her iron pills and within a couple of weeks, she started to feel a little better, not so dragged out at the end of the day. And it was a good thing, because Christmas was coming.
The weather in her little Ohio town had turned and there had already been a couple of snowfalls, with little accumulation. She had switched her clothes in the closet and put away all of her lighter fall clothes. The winter coats were right in the front of the coat closet, and with them the hats, gloves and scarves in a basket. The boots were on mats on the closet floor.
In order to feel a little more into the season, Anna had purchased a new artificial tree and put it up. To honor her mom, she put it in the same place where the tree had always stood --- in the front window of the house. She put up some garlands and other decorations and made the kitchen look festive. She talked to Mrs. Licci and decided to invite her and her husband over, as well as all the kids from the Kentucky trip. About 20 or so folks to share a little bit of holiday cheer.
Anna had seen John in church several times after the day she ran into him at the pharmacy. He and Katie were a fixture near the rear of the church. A few times John lingered for a little bit in the parking lot and said hello, but it was cold and so both of them actually wanted to get into their cars and head for home.
The night of the party, the house was ablaze with lights. The porch lights were on to welcome the guests and pretty soon the doorbell rang nonstop until everyone had come. She started them out with some hot cider, and then they had some snacks. Finally, she served some soup and macaroni and cheese casserole, topped off by homemade Christmas cookies, and some pie. The kids ate like they hadn’t been fed in a week!! Erin was there, and her face just glowed with happiness.
“Oh, Anna, I just had to thank you again for all of your help. My dad is doing so well now. You just wouldn’t believe the difference. He and my mom are planning on taking us on a cruise this spring. Isn’t that something? My dad just has this new appreciation for life now, and my mom is just so relieved,” Erin said.
“I am happy for you. Anyone looking at you could see that you are a much happier girl than when we went to Kentucky,” Anna said.
She called everyone to attention and took a few moments to tell them about the gathering and what it meant to her: “You are all like family to me. The Kentucky trip was so eye-opening for me and I learned so much about you and about life while we were there. Nothing has been the same since for me. I hope you feel the same. And I just wanted to thank Mrs. Licci and her husband, and all of you for everything. I hope we can do this again before spring is upon us. What do you think?”
“Only if next time we can bring some food ourselves,” Mrs. LIcci said. The kids nodded in agreement. “It doesn’t have to be fancy. Hot dogs, baked beans, and potato salad, and dessert,” she said.
“Okay, if that’s what it takes to get you all here. I’ll go along with that,” Anna said, laughing.
Pretty soon, everyone left and the house was dead quiet. Not a sound anywhere. A soft snow was coming down and when she looked outside it was like one of those Currier and Ives pieces. All that was missing was a horse-drawn sleigh. She stared at the beauty of it for a while, and then she unplugged the tree, turned off the porch lights, and made herself some warm milk with sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg – one of her mother’s favorites. She went to bed exhausted.
The Sunday before Christmas Anna saw John after church. He was strapping Katie into her car seat.
“Hello, John!” Anna said.
When Katie saw Anna, she said, “Kiki.”
John laughed, and said that ever since Anna bought Katie the stuffed animal, she refers to her as “Kiki.” Anna laughed too, so that tears were in her eyes.
“So what are you doing for Christmas?” John asked.
“Oh, not much. Just church in the morning and I will probably help out at the soup kitchen a little later on,” Anna said. “If they need me.”
“Well, my sister-in-law said that you are welcome to come over to her house,” John said.
“Oh, dear, I wouldn’t want to impose on a family’s Christmas,” Anna said.
“With my sister-in-law, we always have extra guests. She invites several people from church to come, and they usually do. The house is big and it accommodates plenty of people. We end up playing games like charades and Trivial Pursuit. And my brother-in-law beats everyone in Trivial Pursuit every single year,” John said, smiling.
“Can I get back to you about it?” Anna answered.
“Sure, you know my phone number. Just give me a call,” John said.
When Anna drove home, she thought about the invitation and what might have precipitated it. She figured that John had told his sister-in-law about this client of his whose mother died and whose boyfriend dumped her, and how alone she is. She figured someone felt sorry for her, and Anna had a hard time with that. She didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for her, although truth be told, this would be the first Christmas without her mom and it was going to be tough.
In fact, she had been dreading the time she would have to fill after Christmas morning Mass for weeks.
No comments:
Post a Comment