by J. W. Huemme
Was that the car door already? Mary thought. The time just seems to fly by working with Christopher each day. “Hello, honey,” Mary purred as she opened the door and gave Joe a big hug.
“How’s my boy today, huh?” Joe said as he picked Christopher up and gave him a big hug, too.
“Hi, Daddy,” Christopher responded.
Joe carried Christopher into the living room. “So, let’s see what you did today.”
Mary smiled as she watched them together. “I’ll get dinner ready. It’ll be just a minute, so you two better go wash your hands.”
“Your mom says we better wash our hands, so we better go wash our hands.”
Joe waited till the middle of dinner before breaking the news to Mary. “Mickey’s uncle passed away last week. He had a house in a nice area just outside the city on the other side of town, and Mickey will be handling the sale of the house. He asked if we might be interested. When I told him it would be too far for me to drive to get to my territory, he said if we wanted to buy the house, he would let me work not only the north side, but also the northern part of the city. It seems old Hal Fletcher is slowing down a little and Mickey thinks he wouldn’t mind if I worked part of his territory.” Joe waited for Mary’s response.
“Oh, Joe, a house? That would be wonderful, but how could we afford it?”
“Well, Mickey said that since the house is paid for, he would hold the paper and take the payments right out of my pay each month, and with the northern territory to work plus part of the city, well, I don’t see why not.”
“When can we go look at it?” Mary asked, as if already giving her blessing.
With a big smile, Joe held up the keys. “How about first thing in the morning?”
“Did you bring the camera?” Joe asked as he glanced at Mary before starting the car.
“Yes, and some sandwiches and crackers. I also brought a thermos of cold milk to drink with the sandwiches. I thought since it’s in the country, we could make it like a picnic.”
“You’ve thought of everything. Well then, let’s go.”
Their flat was on the southern fringes of the city, which meant they had to drive right through the heart of the city. Once out of the city, they were more able to appreciate the trees in the midst of their autumn color change. It could not have been a nicer time of year for a trip like this—a nice cool fall afternoon with the sun shining. It seemed to reflect the change about to happen in their lives.
With the city just barely behind them, Joe made the turn onto the gravel road, around a curve, and there it was. It looked like a picture postcard, Mary thought. There was a small rustic wooden bridge marking the beginning of the winding drive leading up to the house.
“Oh Joe! It’s beautiful. Are you sure this is the right house?”
“Well, we’ll see if the key fits,” Joe remarked with a big smile but he knew it was the right house since Mickey had described it to him the day before.
As Joe turned the key in the front door lock, Mary was practically holding her breath. Although she knew the key would fit, it still seemed too good to be true. As Joe opened the door, he stood aside to allow Mary to enter first. Her eyes were wide with a twinkle like the morning dew in the sun. She entered the living room and tried to take everything in. Instantly, to her left, her eyes fell upon the doorway leading into the kitchen. Her body seemed to follow her eyes, and she found herself standing in front of the window over the kitchen sink. Mary knew she was home.
Out the kitchen window, Mary could see the large oak tree in front and the wooden bridge beyond. She would be able to see Joe coming home every day as she prepared dinner. This is perfect, Mary thought, just perfect.
“Are you going to stay in the kitchen all day, or would you like to see the rest of the house, too?” Joe’s voice rang from another room.
“Oh, honey. It’s wonderful,” Mary replied as she entered the living room. “You guys going to wait for me?” Joe and Christopher were already at the end of the hall looking at the back bedroom.
“Take a look at our new bedroom,” Joe said as Mary joined him in the doorway of the back bedroom.
“What’s in here?” Christopher asked as he opened the door of the stairs leading up to the loft.
“Wait for us, Christopher.”
As soon as Christopher reached the top of the stairs, he announced, “This will be my room.” Joe and Mary looked around at the semi-finished attic. “Well, we’ll have to do a little fixing up first, but I don’t see why not. What do you think, honey?”
Mary thought for a moment. “Sure. I can make some drapes for the windows and, well, it will be nice.”
“Till then, your room will be downstairs,” Joe remarked.
“We don’t even know if we can get the house yet, do we, Joe?” Mary asked.
“All I have to do is tell Mickey we want it, and it’s ours. What do you think?” Joe looked at Mary with that why-not look on his face.
“I haven’t seen the bathroom yet,” Mary responded.
“Well,” Joe said, “let’s go have a look.” They left Christopher to explore what would soon become his new bedroom, and Joe and Mary returned to the ground floor to inspect the bathroom.
“Joe!” Mary exclaimed. “A tub! A real bathtub!” Their flat had only a shower. Mary had gotten used to not being able to enjoy the pleasures of a long afternoon bubble bath. Thoughts of relaxing in a tub full of hot water topped with a thick layer of bubbles filled Mary’s mind. “So what do you think, honey?” Joe asked.
“It’s perfect Joe, just perfect. Why don’t you go get Christopher and I’ll get the sandwiches out of the car. We can eat out on the porch.”
“Good idea. We’ll be there in a minute.”
The porch ran the entire length of the front of the house. It was enclosed with a simple railing, opening at the center where the steps were. There was a porch swing big enough for two or three people. It faced the front, giving its occupants a beautiful view of the shallow valley and gentle rolling grass-covered hills in front of the house. There were several other houses in the area, but none very close. Most were scattered throughout the valley. Many trees, mostly oaks, were scattered in the area—not so many as to let one think they were in the woods, but enough to let you know you weren’t in the city. The air was clean, and there wasn’t a factory in sight. It may not have been a mansion, but for Joe and Mary, it was a dream come true.
“Do you think we can really afford it, honey?” Mary asked.
“Well,” Joe stopped to take a drink of milk, and then continued, “the payments will only be just a little higher than what we’re paying now. Besides, I’ll have more territory to work, so I think we can safely assume we’ll have a little more income to work with. Plus, the furniture.”
“The furniture? What about the furniture?” Mary asked.
“Didn’t I tell you? All the furniture comes with it—everything. So we can sell what we have now. I mean, anything we don’t want to keep. All we really have to do is bring our clothes and toothbrush.”
“What about all the dishes and silverware and—”
Joe cut Mary off midway through her sentence, “Even the television. That’s right. Everything stays just like you see it. Mickey and his family don’t have any interest in anything in the house.”
Mary couldn’t believe her ears. “Well, then I say we take it. What do you think Christopher? Do you like the house?”
“Yes, let’s live here,” Christopher responded.
“Then it’s settled. I’ll tell Mickey first thing Monday morning that—no, wait. Actually, I’ll call him when we get home.”
Mary spoke up, “Let’s call him right now, Joe. I saw a phone in the kitchen. Let’s see if it works.”
Joe finished his lunch and then tried the phone. “Hello, Mickey? Joe here. I’m sorry to call you at home, but I’m at your uncle’s house with Mary and Christopher, and we love it. We’ve looked at it and talked it over and we’ve decided we want to
buy it. Are you sure everything in it stays? Uh-huh. Yes. Sure. Okay. I’ll see you Monday morning. Right. Bye-bye.” Joe paused for a moment. “Well, it looks like we’re home. Mickey said we’ll do the paperwork on Monday, but we can move in right now if we want.”
“Oh, honey!” Mary exclaimed as she put her arms around Joe and held him close. “Let’s go take another look around our new house. How about we move in tomorrow. We can pack up most of the things we’ll need and bring it over in the car tomorrow. We can get the rest over the weekend. What do you think?”
Joe thought for a moment. “I don’t see why not. We should be able to fit all of our clothes in the car plus the food out of the cupboards and the refrigerator. What we can’t fit in, we should be able to get this weekend. I’ll call the consignment shop and have them pick up the furniture in the meantime, so after we load the rest, we can clean up before we leave. Then I can drop off the keys to Mrs. Davis and get our deposit back.”
“Then it’s settled. We move in tomorrow.” Mary smiled. “Move into our new house. I still can’t believe it—our new house. Pinch me, honey. No don’t—if I’m dreaming, I don’t want to wake up.” Mary laughed. “I love you so much, Joe.”
“I love you too, honey.” Mary leaned back and looked at Joe. “We had better get back to the flat then. We’ve got some packing to do.”
Joe stopped at the grocery store to get some boxes. As soon as they got to the flat, they started right into packing. “Joe, how about you start packing the food in the cupboards while I pack the clothes. Christopher, why don’t you take a box and pack all your books and things, okay? And, Joe, leave the things in the refrigerator till we’re ready to leave tomorrow so they won’t go bad.”
Joe smiled, “Yes, Mom.”
Mary set out everybody’s clothes for the next day and packed the rest in boxes. Joe loaded all the food from the cupboards into several boxes, while Christopher was busy carefully filling a box with all of his books and puzzles. It was starting to get late, but they were all so excited about their new house that no one was tired.
“It’s going to be a long day tomorrow, so we all had better get some sleep. What do you say?” Mary always the realist, had as much trouble falling asleep as anyone. Visions of their new house kept swirling through her head until the Sandman finally won out and let her sleep.
All were up with the sun and ready for the adventure of moving that lie ahead. After a quick shower, Joe went into the kitchen to find Mary had already whipped up a light breakfast. Joined a moment later by Christopher, they all sat down to eat. No one was really hungry, but Mary knew the importance of a good breakfast. Besides, it was a good chance to discuss the game plan for the day.
“As soon as we finish eating, I’ll wash the dishes while you start loading the boxes into the car. When you finish that, you can help me pack the rest of the food and, well, then we should be ready to go. Christopher, you can bring me the dishes and silverware from the table, okay?”
“Okay, Mom.”
It was a strange feeling that was shared by all as they pulled out of the driveway. The car was packed full of so many of the things that made up their life. Joe took it nice and slow, being careful negotiating bumps and curves so as not to disturb their precious cargo. This was more than a trip across town. This was a journey into a new life. A chance to put down roots that Mary and Joe had waited for since getting married. A place to come home to that was really a home. The trip seemed to go by fast and in no time at all, they were driving across the little wooden bridge and up the driveway to their new home.
The move went smoothly. Mary went right to work cleaning the closets and emptying the drawers in preparation for their belongings. She set Mickey’s uncle’s clothes and things aside to box up to go to Goodwill. He was much shorter and heavier than Joe, so none of his things would fit. Meanwhile Joe brought the food in to go in the refrigerator first, then the boxes from the car, setting them in the living room to sort out as they went. In no time at all, Mary had neatly put all their clothes and personal belongings in their proper place. While Joe and Christopher were busy exploring every little nook and cranny, Mary moved into the kitchen to start setting up shop. She cleaned and sorted and moved things around over and over until everything was just right.
“Mary, come here and look at this!” Joe hollered from the living room. “Mary?” he repeated.
“Yes, yes, I’m coming, I’m coming.” Mary continued as she entered the living room. “What is it, honey?”
“Will you look at this? It works!” Joe said as he played with the adjustments on the television. “Hey! Look, it’s Ed Sullivan. Son of a gun.”
“Ed Sullivan.” Christopher echoed.
“Better be careful, honey, there’s an echo in here.” Mary warned as she sat next to Joe on the sofa for a moment to enjoy the moment together.
“How are you coming in the kitchen, hon?” Joe asked.
“Well, I guess I’m finished for tonight, at least enough to get through till tomorrow.” Mary sat back with Joe’s arm around her shoulder. “Joe, I love you.” She snuggled up close, and sighed. Could life be any better than this?
Monday morning Joe was off to the office to meet with Mickey to make arrangements for the house and to find out about his new territory. Mary went about getting better familiarized with their new home. Christopher was busily looking around, exploring every corner. As always, he found it necessary to understand everything he possibly could. He seemed to adapt to their new house as if it was supposed to be this way all along.
After a few hours of sorting through things and re-arranging, Mary went into the kitchen to make lunch for herself and Christopher. There were many things on her mind as she and Christopher ate. The most important was making arrangements for school for Christopher. He would be turning five this year and Mary was determined to get him accepted. If the people at the school would just meet and talk to Christopher, they would see he didn’t need to get any older to qualify. Mary felt sure once they met with Christopher and talked with him, they would agree.
Suddenly, the light bulb went off in Mary’s head. With the excitement of the new house and moving, Mary just realized the house was in the same area as the special school she had written to. In a flash, Mary was looking for where she had put the letter she received from the school. She had to stop and think for a moment. In the old flat, she would have known right where to look, but with the packing, unpacking, and moving things around, it took a few moments to sort through her mind and, bingo!—the shoebox. Her own personal file for important papers was in the bottom drawer in her newly acquired chest of drawers in her new bedroom. Pulling open the bottom drawer revealed the shoebox just where she had put it. At times like this, Mary thanked God that she was an organized person. She removed the shoebox and headed into the living room to search for a city map she had found in Mickey’s uncle’s things. Locating the map, shoebox in hand, she headed for the kitchen.
“Christopher, would you help me and put the dishes in the sink? Thank you.”
“Sure, Mom,” Christopher said as he proceeded to take the dishes from lunch into the sink.
Mary wiped the table clean and spread the map out on the table. She set the shoebox on the map, pulled the letter from the school out of the shoebox, and proceeded to find the location of the new house on the map. Then she looked for the street the school was on. Just as she thought, the street the school was on was on the northern fringes of the city not far from their new home.
Mary’s thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. She opened the door to a woman about 30 years of age standing on her porch.
“Hello. I’m Linda Cunningham. I live in the yellow house right there,” she said as she turned and pointed to a yellow house down the hill in front of Mary’s house. “I saw you moving in yesterday and just thought I’d come by and introduce myself, since we’re going to be neighbors.”
Mary smiled. “Hi Linda. I’m Mary, Mary Adams, and this is Christ
opher. Would you like to come in?”
“Thank you,” Linda replied as Mary pushed open the screen door. “Come into the kitchen. I was just looking at a map trying to figure out where this school is.”
Linda glanced at the map. “Which school are you looking for?”
“Here,” Mary showed Linda the envelope with the school’s return address.
“Oh, that’s just right down the road here. You could practically walk there. Well, not really, but almost. Why?”
Mary hesitated for a moment. “I’m trying to get Christopher in that school. He’s a very smart child. I’ve been working with him every day for the last couple of years. He’s not quite five years old and he can read and write and do basic math already. Plus he seems to have this natural ability to solve puzzles of all kinds. He just can’t seem to get enough of them.” Mary paused for a moment, and then continued. “I wrote to them a year or two ago to inquire about getting Christopher in, but they wrote back saying they wouldn’t consider it until he was at least five. He will turn five this year, but not until winter.”
Linda looked at Mary, “Why don’t you take Christopher to the school and let them meet him. It couldn’t hurt to try. I could even drive you there if you like.”
Mary’s eyes grew large, “Would you? That would be so nice of you.”
“What are neighbors for anyway?” Linda responded. “You say when and we’ll go.”
Linda and Mary went on to get acquainted for over an hour. They found out they had a lot in common and were fast becoming friends. The time flew by as they talked. “Oh my lord, look at the time. I’m keeping you. I’m sure you must have a million things to do. Let me leave you my number, and if you need anything, anything at all, you just give me a call.”
“Thank you, Linda,” Mary responded. “I might just take you up on that offer to drive us to the school sometime if it isn’t too much trouble.”
