by Dan Walsh
“Well, this sure has been a fun memory, hasn’t it, Maddie?”
Maddie nodded her head up and down. “I definitely want to do this again.”
“I’m so glad you liked it,” Judith said.
Taryn leaned forward a little. “Would you mind if she gives you a hug good-bye?”
“Not at all. I miss getting kid-hugs from my grandkids.”
Maddie instantly wrapped her arms around Judith and squeezed.
“Well, I guess we better be going,” Taryn said. “Thanks again.” She took a few steps down the aisle and turned. “Will you be teaching any more craft classes here?”
“I don’t know,” Judith said. “We haven’t talked about anything like that.”
“She might be,” Doris added.
“If you do, count us in.” She and Maddie waved once more and headed toward the front door.
“What do you think?” Doris said. “You’re a natural at this. The kids loved you. The moms loved you. And we’ve sold more make-it-yourself stuff the last two weeks than we have all year.”
This was encouraging to hear. Judith hadn’t said anything to Stan yet, but she had actually been thinking that if this second class went well, she might look into what it took to become an elementary substitute teacher. There wouldn’t be any time conflict with what Doris was talking about, because being a substitute would happen Monday through Friday.
“I would definitely be willing to pay you something,” Doris said. “We could meet and talk about some Valentine’s Day crafts after the holidays. What do you think?”
“I might be interested in something like that. Can I have a little time to think about it?”
“Sure. But I’m hoping you’ll say yes.”
“Thanks, Doris. I probably will. I’ll get back with you between Christmas and New Year’s. Will you be open then?”
“Most days. We’re closing early on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve and closed completely on the actual holidays. You know how to reach me. If you want, you can just wait and give me your decision when the holidays are over.”
Judith reached for her purse and bag of supplies. They hugged, said Merry Christmas and good-bye. Judith walked slowly through the store and out the front door. By the time she reached her car, she realized she was smiling. Over the last several mornings after reading her devotional, she had prayed for God to lift her out of this holiday depression and help her to stop feeling so sorry for herself. She knew self-pity was at the root of her unhappiness.
And look at how many things had improved already. The class went better than she expected, everyone who attended went out of their way to thank her, Doris wanted to hire her to teach more classes, and now she was seriously thinking about becoming a substitute teacher.
She turned on the car and remembered one more thing. Stan. Stan had actually thought of something to get her for Christmas this year, all on his own, without even asking her for ideas. And after reading that article Suzanne sent, she had a few ideas of her own brewing, things she and Stan could do to fill the time on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
36
The Day Before Christmas Eve.
Suzanne couldn’t believe it. This was horrible. Their plans were ruined.
She picked up the phone to tell her sister the bad news. She couldn’t imagine calling her father next. But she’d have to. The news would break his heart.
“Hello? Suzanne, is that you?”
Hearing Anna’s voice brought her to tears. “Yes, it is.”
“I can’t really talk,” Anna said. “We’re actually walking toward our gate right now. Our flight leaves in thirty minutes. The airport’s crazy. So many—”
“Anna, we can’t go.”
“What? Did you say you can’t go? You mean, on the trip?”
“Yes.” She tried to regain her composure.
“Why? I thought things were all set.”
“They were. But this crazy cold front moved in last night. The temperature dropped way lower than they expected. All the roads and runways are covered with ice. We called the airport to check. Most of the flights are canceled, including ours. Todd’s boss said sometimes these ice storms mess things up for days.”
“Oh no,” Anna said. “That’s just awful. I’m so sorry, Suzanne. I wonder if it’s going to affect Brandon.”
“I don’t think so. The weatherman said it’s mostly affecting Texas and Oklahoma. I can’t even believe it. We were all packed and ready to go.”
No one said anything for a moment.
“It’s not going to be the same without you guys,” Anna said. “I’m going to pray for a miracle. Ice melts, right? If the sun starts warming things up and the ice melts, maybe you guys can still get out tomorrow. It will be Christmas Eve and kind of crazy, but it could still work.”
“Maybe,” Suzanne said. At the moment, she didn’t feel all that hopeful. She was already thinking of how she would break the news to her dad.
37
The afternoon of Christmas Eve, Judith waited for Stan to come home from work. They had only scheduled his usual four-hour shift today. Since he didn’t have to go in until 9:30 a.m., she’d made them a big breakfast: a sausage-and-cheese omelet, home fries, and rye toast. That was one of the ideas she’d read in that article for empty nesters. Her first “new tradition” for just the two of them . . . make a big country breakfast Christmas Eve morning.
When Stan arrived home, they would try out the second new tradition: going to see a holiday movie. She had read that movie producers always came out with big holiday releases around Christmastime. In the past, they had never paid any attention to them because their holidays were filled with family time. Now that it was just the two of them, she thought they should give it a try. Stan had always been more into movies than she was, but she had picked out one that was supposed to be a romantic comedy, and he had agreed to go.
At the very least, it would help the day go by faster. Time had slowed to a crawl the four hours Stan had been at work. She had tried calling Suzanne and Anna but just got their voice mails. She’d even sent them both a text. No reply to those either. But that shouldn’t surprise her. It was Christmas Eve. Her daughters probably had their hands full trying to make the day special for their families.
Thinking she heard a car pull in the driveway, Judith peeked out the window. She was right. It was Stan. She realized right then that she had actually missed him. In part, she knew it was the change in her attitude; but it was also the way he had been treating her lately. He’d been much more attentive and thoughtful, which surprised her.
The Sunday before last, when he had come back from checking out their new boat, Stan had said something about picking it up early. This week, in fact. She wasn’t sure what happened; Stan hadn’t talked about it. And he and Barney never did go fishing.
She wasn’t complaining. Whatever the reason, it was nice having him around and having him be so . . . what was it . . . connected. It reminded her of how he used to be in the years before the kids came.
The car turned off. She unplugged the Christmas tree lights and took one last look at the fairly big present Stan had put under the tree last night. Her present. She had absolutely no idea what was inside. Grabbing her purse and jacket, she headed for the door.
Stan got out of the car. This was getting so hard.
He had been sitting on this surprise for over a week now. He’d thought about telling Judith at least a dozen times. Every time she became discouraged or sad. Once he’d found her sitting in that same chair in the family room, staring out the window. As he walked up, she’d wiped a tear from her eye. He’d wanted so badly to tell her then.
But he’d decided to make it a surprise, and the girls made him promise he wouldn’t give in. So he didn’t, wouldn’t. Then yesterday he got the bad news from Suzanne about the ice storm hitting Texas. He didn’t know which of them took the news harder, her or him. He did his best not to make her feel bad. Wasn’t anything she could do about
it. But the impact of the surprise would hardly be the same this evening, without her and Todd and Brianna.
He had just spoken with Anna on the phone. Her family had landed safely at the airport yesterday afternoon. They’d driven to Mount Dora and spent the night at Betty’s place. Brandon had texted him last night saying they’d arrived safely and had just checked into the motel. Last night was trash night, so Stan had stayed a little longer at the end of the driveway and called them both. It was so good to hear their voices, knowing they were so close.
Poor Suzanne.
Stan had been tempted to drop in and see Anna’s and Brandon’s families on his way home from work, but he couldn’t squeeze it in before the time he and Judith were supposed to leave for the movie. He heard the kitchen door open and looked up. It was Judith walking this way, putting on her jacket. Her expression seemed a little upbeat. They hugged, and he opened the car door for her. She gave him a peck on the cheek as she got in. He came around the other side and got in beside her.
As soon as he turned on the car, she said, “Can you turn the heat up? I had no idea it was this chilly out.”
“The temperature is supposed to drop today. A cold front’s moving in. It’ll probably be even colder by the time we get out of the movie.”
“Well,” she said, “I guess that’ll be nice. Makes it feel more like Christmas.”
Stan smiled. “Supposed to be pretty chilly the next few days.” He started backing out of the driveway.
“You think I should go back in the house and get my coat? Will this jacket be enough?”
“I think so. The car will heat up in a couple of minutes. We’ll be inside for the movie. I’m sure they’ll have the heat on.”
“What about after? You told me not to take anything out for dinner. Are you taking me out? Are you going to start your own new Christmas Eve tradition?”
Stan just smiled.
“What?” she asked. “Is that it? Are we going out for dinner after the movie?”
“You’ll find out.”
“Can’t you just tell me?”
“I can’t. But I promise . . . you’re going to like what I’ve got in mind for our Christmas Eve dinner.”
38
Stan had to get control of his nerves or he’d blow the surprise. Anna and Brandon had just texted him—they were on their way over . . . right now.
Fueling his tension was the fact that he had to keep his phone volume turned off over the last hour. Hardly anyone ever called or texted him, but if Judith heard his cell phone ring several times in an hour, she would certainly start asking questions.
Another challenging moment came when they got home from the movie. Judith said she’d enjoyed it but then said that now that they were home and not going out again, she wanted to change into “more comfortable clothes.” Stan knew what that meant. She’d put on her sweatpants, comfy socks, and a soft, baggy T-shirt she liked to wear. He also knew that wasn’t an outfit she’d want to be seen in when her kids and grandkids came walking through the door.
Fortunately, after Stan said he wished there was something they could do after dinner to take advantage of the beautiful night air, Judith suddenly remembered another one of her new Christmastime tradition ideas. Something about grabbing a cup of hot chocolate and driving through neighborhoods with the best Christmas light displays. Stan immediately agreed, then suggested she might want to hold off changing into her comfortable clothes.
Right now, Stan stood waiting for her in the living room. She had gone into the bedroom to get her book from the nightstand. He had suggested she relax in the family room a few minutes while he put together his Christmas Eve dinner surprise. But the real reason was the family room was located on the opposite end of the house from the kitchen door, where the kids and grandkids would shortly be entering.
She walked out from the bedroom hallway. “Okay, I’ve got my book. But you’ve really got me curious now about this Christmas Eve dinner. I’m actually feeling a little hungry.”
Stan guided her to her chair in the family room. “If things go according to plan, I should be back to get you in about ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes? What can you make in ten minutes?”
“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
“You must have called a caterer. Is that what you did? Because you better not be planning on tossing something in the microwave.”
“You just start reading your book and let me worry about the dinner.” The truth was, he had set things up with a caterer to arrive about forty minutes from now, giving them plenty of time together once he had sprung the surprise. He walked through the doorway leading back into the living room. “I’ll just turn on some Christmas music to help set the mood.”
“Not too loud,” Judith said.
“I’ll keep it nice and quiet.” He looked at the line of sight from the family room doorway to the kitchen. This should work out fine. The plan was to have everyone gather in the driveway near the side door. Then when they were ready, he’d move Judith out to her living room chair next to the Christmas tree and make her close her eyes. Then he’d let everyone in through the kitchen. From there they could spring the surprise as they poured through the dining room into the living area.
He hurried to the kitchen and opened the side door as quietly as he could. It was already dark outside. He heard car doors open and shut out by the street. He all but ran down the driveway. His next-door neighbor had left town for a few weeks. Stan had asked Anna and Brandon to park in front of their house. As he reached the end of his driveway, the sight before him thrilled his heart.
Anna and Brandon and their spouses and children were coming toward him as a group. He couldn’t help himself. He started crying. Any lingering concerns about cashing in his boat money were completely gone.
Just then, headlights appeared down the road. He was about to tell everyone to get out of the street when the car slowed, then stopped. They got out of the street anyway when they saw the car. The passenger side door opened.
What Stan saw next almost stopped his heart. It was Suzanne.
She stepped out into the street. Seeing her sister, Anna almost screamed with delight. Her husband had to cover her mouth. They all ran to greet her and Todd, who was helping the baby out of the backseat.
“What in the world?” Anna said in something of a whisper-yell. “How did you get here?”
They embraced and both started crying. Brandon’s wife too.
“Todd found out the ice storm didn’t reach all the way south. So he decided we could throw our things in the car and drive around it.”
“You drove here?”
“Straight through,” Todd said. “Seventeen hours.”
Seeing all this, Stan couldn’t keep it together. He walked toward Suzanne and Anna and opened his arms to a flood of hugs and kisses. He could only let this go on a few moments. “We’ve got to stop this. Your mom’s waiting inside.” He led everyone to the driveway, wiping the tears off his face. “Mom has no idea you all are here. She’s sitting in the family room with a book thinking I’m getting dinner ready. We’re all going to stand by the side kitchen door. But you have to be totally quiet. Okay, kids?” His grandkids all nodded. “I’ll go in and bring her into the living room. After she closes her eyes, I’ll come get you.”
“We brought these,” Suzanne whispered, holding up the Christmas ornament he’d sent. Brandon held his up too. “We thought this might be a good way to, sort of, headline the surprise.”
“I remembered too,” Anna said and held hers up.
“That’s great,” Stan said. Judith would absolutely love it. “Okay, let’s go.”
Just then, another car came up the street from the other direction and slowed as it reached them. When it stopped, Stan recognized Betty in the driver’s seat. She rolled down the window, a card in her hand.
“Hey, Stan.”
“Hi, Betty, what are you doing here? We’re about to go in and surprise Judith. Wann
a watch?”
“No, I don’t want to spoil it. But you’re going to get it on video, right?”
“Planning to.”
“I just came to drop this off. It’s a Christmas card from Barney. Well, from both of us. Just hold on to it and read it after the dust settles. I think you’ll like what he wrote.”
Stan took the card.
“Well, I better let you all get on with your big surprise. Can’t wait to hear how it goes. Merry Christmas.”
Stan said Merry Christmas back and so did his kids. She drove off. A few seconds later, they all regrouped by the side door of the house. “Let’s have Brandon, Anna, and Suzanne come in first,” Stan said. “Holding up their ornaments. Then everyone else come in behind them.”
Some of the grandchildren began to giggle. Their moms quieted them down.
“Okay, I’m going to open the door,” Stan said. “Not a sound.”
39
Judith thought she heard the side kitchen door open and close. She set her book on the table. It was probably Stan letting in the caterer. She was sure that’s what he had done. He’d probably ordered something fancy. Something he knew she loved but something he couldn’t make. She wondered what it was.
She had to admit, the extra attention he had been sending her way lately was definitely helping her emotions. By now, she had half expected to be slipping back into the darker mood she’d felt on Thanksgiving Day and the days after. But here it was, Christmas Eve, and she wasn’t doing bad at all.
She heard Stan’s footsteps coming her way.
“Okay, hon,” he said. “I’m all set for you.”
“Dinner is served?” she asked. She stood, sniffed the air. “I’m not smelling any fancy dinner smells.”
“You will soon enough. But first I have something else in mind. It’s a two-part surprise. For the first part, you have to close your eyes.”
