Published: 7 Nov 2024
Chapter 35 – Santa’s Visit to the Hospital
Seeing we had such a large breakfast before we left for Fort Collins, we skipped stopping to eat at the diner on the way there and merely grabbed a snack when we reached the house. After we did that, we started working on our projects and papers again, because we had to finish them by a week from Friday, and then the week after that is finals week.
In fact, it’s going to be a busy couple of weeks until finals, because there are a lot of other things we have to take care of that aren’t related to our majors. We have to go shopping for our families before we return home, because we don’t want to leave it until the last minute and then find only a limited selection of gifts available in the stores. For that reason, we plan on getting everything done as early as we can and then take the presents with us when we return home.
We’ll also be making the trip to the children’s ward before we head home for the holidays so we can bring a little Christmas cheer to those unfortunate children who will be spending their Christmas there. This means that every Friday we’ll be going over to the campus newspaper office to see how much money they have that’s been donated during the previous week, and then we’ll take that money and buy more toys over the weekend. During our first visit to the newspaper office after we arrived back on campus, the editor-in-chief shared some information with us.
“There have been quite a few toys donated so far and most of them were given to us by the sororities. I also have a considerable amount of cash that was contributed by various other groups, so do you want to take everything with you now?”
“No. If you don’t mind we’ll just take the money now so we can buy more toys, but we’ll leave the toys that have been donated with you until the day before we intend on going to the hospital. We feel the toys are more secure here than at the house where we are living, which is off campus. We’ll drop off the toys we purchase over the weekend on either Monday or Tuesday, if that’s acceptable with you.”
“Yes, that will be fine and I’m happy to allow the toys to remain here until you’re ready for them.”
“Thank you. We appreciate your help.”
I slipped the money he gave me into my pocket, along with the list of the amounts that each group had donated. After that, Devin and I walked over to the dining hall to have supper before we returned to the house. As soon as we finished eating and arrived back at the house, we talked about when we were going to go shopping for toys.
“Let’s do it tomorrow night,” Devin suggested, “and then we’ll drop those items off at the newspaper office after we finish up at the dog park the next day.”
“Then when do you want to do the shopping for our families?”
“We can see how much more money they have at the newspaper office on Friday, and if there’s enough we’ll go shopping for more toys after we eat supper. Then, we can do our personal shopping on Saturday, and if necessary we can do a little more shopping on Sunday, after we get back from the hunting camp. We can do the same thing the following weekend as well, if we still need to buy more gifts.”
“Ok, that’s fine with me.”
After thinking about it for a while, Devin decided that he wouldn’t have time to go to the dog park each morning, since he had so much to do. This meant I’d have to explain to Preston why weren’t going to be there for a while, so I called his office to leave a message. To my surprise, Preston answered the phone, so I told him that Bear and I wouldn’t be at the dog park for a while, since I had so much to do before finals and then I’d be going home for Christmas break. He said he understood, but it wasn’t going to be easy to explain it to Bailey.
When we returned to the house each evening, we’d do any assignments that were due the following day first, and then we’d either work on our projects and papers, or we’d study for finals. As I said, it was a very busy time.
On the Saturday before finals week, we took time to finish up our personal shopping, and we even split up for most of that time so we could buy gifts for each other. By the time we finished shopping, we had all of the gifts that we needed for our families.
Each time that we bought gifts for our family or each other, we had our purchases gift wrapped at the store. Not only would they do a better job than we could have done, it would also keep us from having to buy wrapping paper, tape, and gift tags. It would also prevent each other from finding out what I’d bought for him, and vice versa, before Christmas Day.
On Tuesday during finals week, after we took the exams that were scheduled, we drove over to the campus newspaper office to pick up the last of the donations and did the last of the shopping. And then the following day after my exam, I called to confirm our visit to the hospital and then I contacted the reporter who was going to write the article about our visit to the children’s ward.
“If you want to follow us around as we make our way around the children’s ward, then you should meet us in the main lobby of the hospital at 3:00 tomorrow. That will give us enough time to finish our last finals, dress in our outfits, and load all of the toys into the SUV before we leave to meet you.”
“That’s good for me, because I’ll have finished my final by then as well.”
After that call ended, Devin and I went to pick up the toys that the campus newspaper has been holding for us. We were lucky that a couple of the staff members were there and they offered to help us carry out the boxes that they were storing the toys in. After we thanked them for their help, we headed back to the house, and when we arrived there, Gramps was waiting for us.
“Man, it’s nice to see you,” I greeted him. “We really appreciate that you’re doing this for us again.”
“I appreciate that, but to tell you the truth, I’m looking forward to doing this again as well.”
“Uhhh, I don’t remember if you’d already transitioned when you arrived here last year,” I continued, “but you look great.”
“Yes, this is how I looked when I arrived here last year as well. Since you’d explained that you’d told your friends and others that it was your grandfather that was playing Santa. I didn’t want anyone to see Devin’s grandfather arrive here and then suddenly your grandfather appeared instead. And like last year, I also rented a car to drive here, so no one would see my SUV in the driveway.”
“Ah, that makes sense. And I hope you and Pops didn’t feel slighted that my parents weren’t able to invite both of you and your wives to join us for Thanksgiving and Christmas? We just don’t have enough room to host such a large gathering.”
“No, we didn’t feel slighted at all and both of us understood. In fact, it worked out very well on Thanksgiving and our wives were thrilled that my dad and I were able to spend the holiday with just them this year. They even worked together as they honed up on their turkey cooking skills, because Doris had always prepared the turkey when we celebrated the holidays with them at the cabin.”
“I hope the turkey turned out ok then, and I’m glad to hear that none of you were upset, because I didn’t want to hurt any of your feelings.”
“You certainly don’t have to worry about doing that. Oh, and by the way, my dad wanted me to pass a message along to you. He said that our return trip to Missouri is all set and the private jet is reserved for us to leave on Saturday, June 1st. I hope that won’t be a problem for you?”
“No, it won’t, because when we were at my house for Thanksgiving, we told my parents that we’d be going to Missouri with you again, and now I can tell them when we’ll be leaving. It will also work out great, since I’ll be returning home on either May 10th or 11th, depending on when our last finals are next semester, and that means I’ll be home for a couple of weeks before we leave.
“I’m glad you found a way to let your parents know that you’ll be going with us again without arousing suspicion about what we’ll actually be doing.”
“Yeah, we are too. But what shall we tell them about when we’ll be back?”
“Tell them you we should return before the Fourth of July, because we’ve arranged our return flight for July 2nd. We wanted to make it for July 1st, but the crew had another flight scheduled that day. If we get done earlier or later than that, I just have to make a call and see how soon they can pick us up, and then you can call home to inform your parents about our change of plans.”
“Ok, that’s fine. It’s just that I wanted to know what to tell my parents, because I know they’re going to ask. We should be fine, though, as long as we’re back before August 1st, because my dad is planning on taking us on vacation the first two weeks of August.”
“Don’t worry, because we’ll be home well before then. And if you haven’t eaten yet, I’d like to take you out for supper.”
“That would be great, but we’ll have to take the toys out of the SUV first. We don’t want to take the chance that someone might break into the SUV and steal all of the toys before we get back. And then later, we’ll have to put the toys in the appropriate sacks that we’ll be carrying at the hospital, because we won’t have time to do that tomorrow.”
“Ok, I can help you with that before we leave. And it should make it a lot faster with three of us carrying everything inside.”
As soon as we’d taken all of the toys into the house, Gramps took us to a restaurant we didn’t go to very often, since he was supposed to be my grandfather this time. Once again, he was the center of attention and he received numerous comments about how he’d be perfect to play Santa.
“Thank you and I’m glad you think so, because I’ll be playing Santa tomorrow at the hospital,” he replied, much to their delight.
And during the meal, we reminded him about how the visit to the hospital was going to proceed and what we needed to do when we got back to the house.
“Like we said earlier, we’ll put the toys in the sacks tonight, because we probably won’t have time to do that tomorrow. The thing is, after the hospital representative told me what children will be there and their ages, we’ll have to change the age groups for the sacks, but it will only be slightly different than last year. Our last finals are in the morning and we should be done in time to have lunch before we have to get ready to go to the hospital.”
“Ok, but don’t bother stopping at the dining hall before you return to the house, because I’ll take you out for lunch before we change into our outfits to go to the hospital.”
“Ok, that sounds good, but I hope you remember that we’ve told the reporter that we’ll meet her at the hospital at 3:00. That should give us plenty of time to get dressed and load all of the toys into the SUV, unless Devin takes a long time with his final.”
”You don’t have to worry about me, because I’ll be back in plenty of time,” Devin shot back.
“Ok, that works for me.”
“And after we finish eating tonight, we just have to make a quick stop to use the last of the donation money to buy more toys. Do you want to go with us when we do that, or should we take Devin’s SUV to do the shopping?”
“No, I’ll be happy to go with you. I haven’t purchased any gifts for young people in quite a few years. In fact, the last time would have been when Devin was little.”
After we finished eating supper and had made a quick stop at the store to buy more toys, we returned to the house. Now, we still had to sort through the toys we picked up at the newspaper office to select the best ones to put in the sacks.
“Look, if you trust me to do it,” Gramps began, “then I can take care of it while you two are taking your final exams tomorrow. I think I’m capable of choosing the best toys and then placing them in the sack for the correct age group. That way, you boys will be able to study for your finals tonight.”
“Thank you, that will be a big help,” we agreed, and then we headed up to our room to study. It was actually a relief that we had a few extra hours to study, because this final had been our lowest priority until now, since it was the last of our finals. And when we finished, we took a quick shower before we went to sleep.
When we woke up, we grabbed the items we’d need to do a last minute brush up for our finals as we ate, and then we headed over to the dining hall. When we finished eating, we wished each other good luck and agreed that we’d meet back at the house when we were done.
As usual, after taking my exam, I arrived back at the house before Devin, and then I helped Gramps sort the last of the toys into the three sacks. Once that was completed, we placed the remaining toys in a couple of large boxes and placed those in the SUV, and when Devin arrived, Gramps took us out to grab a bite to eat.
During the meal, Devin and I filled each other in about our exams, and then we returned to the house to change. When we were all ready, we carried the sacks out to the SUV. They filled up the back, plus half of the backseat, leaving just enough room for me to sit, and then Devin drove us to the hospital.
Anna, the reporter from the campus newspaper, met us in the main lobby when we arrived there, and she had a huge grin plastered on her face.
“This is so neat!” she squealed. “You guys are already causing quite a commotion and you haven’t even gone to visit the children yet.”
“Yes, Santa always draws a great deal of attention from the adults as well,” we agreed.
Anna followed us as we squeezed into the elevator and pressed the button for the children’s ward. Once the doors opened, she stayed behind us as we prepared to go from room to room and hand out presents.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d actually believe that Mac’s grandfather was the real Santa Claus,” she gasped as she watched him hand out the first of the toys. “Not only does he look like Santa, but he sounds like Santa as well, at least what I’ve always imagined Santa would sound like. He’s very jolly and his signature ho-ho-ho laugh is infectious.”
“Yes, he’s what makes this so special for the kids,” I agreed. “They really believe he IS Santa Claus. I’ve even seen children tug on his beard and hair to see if they were real, and I’ve also seen other kids poke his belly to see if it’s stuffed with pillows.”
“How does he react when they do those things?”
“He releases a big ho-ho-ho laugh, because he thought it was funny that the children were checking him out.”
“That’s hilarious.”
As expected, the children did many of the same things today that I’d just mentioned to Anna. We even overheard one of the children whisper something to one of the other children.
“He really is Santa Claus. He’s not like those other guys playing Santa that wear fake beards and have their suits stuffed with pillows to make them look fat. He’s the real Santa.”
We even saw one of the little girls that wasn’t confined to a hospital bed go over and hug Santa’s leg. In fact, she didn’t want to let go of it when we were ready to leave the room, so one of the nurses had to help get the little girl to release her grip so we could go to the next room. But when we got to the doorway, Santa turned and spoke.
“Ho, ho, ho, I want each of you to have a very merry Christmas.”
When we finished handing out presents to each of the children at the hospital, the reporter noticed there were still quite a few toys left in our sacks.
“What are you going to do with those toys?” she asked.
“We’re going to take what’s left, along with the boxes of toys that are in the SUV, and drive over to the Toys for Tots donation center and drop them off so they can give them to other needy children. You can follow us over there to see how it works, if you’d like.”
“Yes, I want to see that too. Do you ever run into other children when you’re doing this?”
“Oh, yes, and they usually ask Santa why he’s leaving the toys there instead of giving them out himself.”
“And what does Santa tell them?”
“He has a pat answer that the Toys for Tots people serve as his helpers and find the children who have moved since last year or are homeless, so he can spend his time taking care of the other children.”
“Oh, I like that,” she added as she watched us move the rest of the toys from the boxes and put them into our sacks. Then, she got into her car so she could follow us to our next destination.
When we arrived there, we actually encountered several children on the way to Toys for Tots donation area. And just as I’d told her, they not only wanted to hang out with Santa, but they also asked him why he wasn’t just delivering the toys himself. And of course, Santa gave them his standard reply.
“I’m glad I came to see this as well,” she stated as we walked back to our vehicles. “Being with you guys will help me write a very touching and personal account of what you actually did today.”
We thanked her for getting involved so she could write the article, and then we told her that we looked forward to reading it when we returned to Fort Collins after the holidays. We also wished her a Merry Christmas before she left, and then we returned to the house to change.
“I’m really glad that I did this with you boys again this year,” Gramps said. “It makes me realize that we should all be doing more for the people that are less fortunate, such as those in hospitals and nursing homes, as well as those that are disabled or homeless. You boys are setting a great example for us to follow.”
“Thank you and you know we’ll be doing this next year as well, if you’re interested.”
“You can definitely count me in. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
After we’d taken off our outfits and put them away, we dressed in our regular clothes again. That’s when Gramps told us something that we weren’t aware of.
“You know, last year I had to shop at the Thrift Store so I’d have clothes that would fit ‘your Grandfather’s’ large girth. I put them away when I got home so I could use them again this year.”
“That’s neat, but I want you to know that neither of my grandfathers is as large as that. They may be a little portly, but they’re not nearly as big as you are now.”
“I wasn’t implying that they are.”
“I know, but I just wanted to clarify that point.”
“It will be dark soon, so we’re going to wait until morning before we leave,” Devin informed Gramps.
“That will probably be best,” Gramps agreed, “so I’ll take you out for supper.”
When we got back to the house after we finished eating, we talked about how the visit at the hospital had gone, and while we were doing that I checked my phone to see if I’d received any photos or videos yet. There were several of each that had been sent by either the hospital staff or the handful of parents that had been there visiting their children. That was because as we were going through the children’s ward, I gave the nurses my phone number and asked them to give it to anyone they saw taking photos or videos. That way, we’d be able to see them as well.
“These are great!” Gramps stated as he looked at them. “Are you going to send any of these to the local newspaper?”
“I suspect that one of the nurses or parents did it last year, so I’m counting on them doing it again this year as well. However, I will forward these to Anna, the campus reporter that was with us today, since she’d given me her phone number previously.”
Once I’d taken care of doing that, we all agreed to turn in early so we could get a good night’s sleep before the drive home, but that didn’t stop Devin and I from making love first. We were still on a really big high from the visit to the hospital and thought making love would help us calm down enough so we could fall asleep.
It must have worked, because we slept really well and woke up later than usual the next morning. “Good morning, sleepyheads,” Gramps greeted us. “Was it the hospital visit or your making love last night that tired you out?”
“I don’t believe it was either,” I replied. “I assume our bodies were merely making up for all the late nights that we’d spent studying for our finals.”
“Ok, that makes sense, but now we need to get in my car so I can take you out for breakfast.”
After we locked up the house, Gramps took us to a restaurant that served breakfast 24/7, and when we finished up there, Gramps drove us back to the house so we could get Devin’s SUV, seeing we and Gramps would both be driving back. While we were at the house, we also clarified a few points with Gramps before we got into the SUV.
“Are you going to transition before we leave?” I asked Gramps.
“No! If people saw me arrive and believe I’m Mac’s grandfather, then it’s best that they see the same person leave. I’ll transition during the drive back, once we’re on a desolate stretch of the highway”
“But isn’t that kind of dangerous?”
“No, I’ve transitioned while driving many times before and it’s not a problem. If you remember, I did the same thing last year as well.”
“That’s right! We stopped at the diner on the way home to eat, and you weren’t Santa any longer.”
“No, I wasn’t ‘your grandfather’ any longer, because I‘d transitioned into myself during the drive there.”
“Oh, ok, so are you going to follow us back to my house, or are you just going straight home?”
“I’ll follow you to your place so Devin isn’t driving back to the cabin alone. I realize we’ll be in separate vehicles, but that way if either of our vehicles breaks down or we have an accident, like hitting a deer, we’ll be there to help one another.”
“Ok, so are we going to stop and eat on the way back?”
“We can stop for a light snack, but we don’t need a large meal, since we’ve just finished eating breakfast. I also want to make sure you’ll be hungry enough that you’ll be able to eat supper with your parents when they arrive home.”
“Ok, that sounds fine with me.”
Gramps followed us as we started out for home, and as usual it was a long and fairly boring drive there. However, it didn’t seem quite as long or boring this time, since Devin and I were still in a good mood after our visit to the hospital. In fact, at one point we started singing Christmas carols and other Christmas songs, and I’m sure Gramps must have thought we were losing it, if he noticed what we were doing.
We made a brief stop at the same diner we sometimes stopped at on the way home, but we only had a hamburger, fries, and a side order of green beans, since that was their vegetable de jour. When we eventually reached my house, I invited Devin and Gramps in for a drink. My parents weren’t there yet and Devin and Gramps finished their drinks and resumed their journey before my parents arrived home from work. It’s not that they didn’t want to say hello to my mom and dad, but they wanted to get home as early as possible.
“Oh, before you leave, did anyone tell you about our plans for New Year’s Eve?”
“Yes, Aaron told my dad and me about it and our wives are excited that we’ll be taking them out this year. We usually have a quiet celebration at the cabin before returning home.”
“I’m glad you’re all going with us, because it should be a blast.”
I said goodbye to Gramps after that and thanked him again for driving to Fort Collins so he could play Santa for us, and then I gave Devin a much more affectionate sendoff. I also told him that I’d see him and his parents when they came here to celebrate Christmas with us, and then I watched as they drove away before I went back in the house.
My mom and dad were happy to see me when they got home, and then my dad suggested that we go out to eat, so my mom would be able to relax as we ate and chatted. Mom and I agreed it sounded like a good idea, so we all got into the SUV and took off.
“How do you think you did on your finals?” my mom asked during the drive to the restaurant.
“This semester was definitely harder than the previous semesters, but I still think I did a good job.”
“I’m glad to hear that and it’s nice to have you home for a couple of weeks. How did Devin think he did on his finals?”
“He agreed that this semester was more difficult as well, but he believes he did a good job on his finals as well.”
“I’m glad to hear that too, and I was confident you boys would do a great job, as always.”
When we got to the restaurant, we went inside and ordered first, and then we chatted while we waited for our meals to be delivered.
“Did Devin say when he and his parents would be joining us?”
“Yes, he said they’ll probably arrive a week from tomorrow. That will be Saturday, the 23rd, because Christmas is on Monday this year. He even said his dad wants to take all of us out to eat on Christmas Eve, so mom doesn’t have to fix a meal. He also said they’ll go home the day after Christmas, because his dad is taking that day off from work. His mom didn’t have to do that, though, since she works for the local school district and they’re on Christmas vacation.”
“Terrific and it will work out nicely, because your father and I did the same thing. I also bought plenty of food when I went shopping this week, but I’ll still need to run out and pick up a few additional items during the week. That way we’ll have everything we need when they arrive on that Saturday.”
“And I’m sure they’ll get here some time that afternoon, since they’re coming on Saturday,” Dad added.
“Yes, they probably will,” I agreed.
“Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you. Three packages arrived for you at different times over the past week and I’ll get them for you when we get home.”
“They’re Devin’s Christmas presents. I couldn’t find what I wanted when we were shopping in the stores, so I ordered them online. I’ll show them to you after I open the packages.”
“I’m sure they’ll be things that Devin will really like,” my mom stated without having seen those items yet.
We continued chatting as we ate, and then we talked some more when we got back to the house. That’s when I told my parents about our visit to the hospital and then I began showing them the photos and videos.
“You and Devin look cute in those outfits and Devin’s grandfather made a wonderful Santa Claus.”
“I thought we looked dorky dressed like that, but Devin’s grandfather did make a great Santa.”
“Is that his own beard,” my dad asked.
“Yes, he grew it out especially to be Santa, but he’s eager to shave it off now. He says his wife doesn’t like it.”
“I don’t think I’d like it if your father grew a beard either.”
As soon as they had seen all of the photos and videos, my mom took my dad to help her retrieve the packages she’d told me about while we were at the restaurant. I opened the largest package first and showed them what was inside.
“I’m sure Devin will find it very useful,” my mom said when she saw the dark grey duffle bag.
“I’m sure he will, because when we went on the trips this past summer, we discovered the duffle bags we had were just too small, and these are larger. The other duffles are fine for going back and forth to spend time with each other, but we couldn’t take everything we wanted when we went to visit both of my grandparents and go to Disney World. The temperatures in Missouri were cooler than they were in Florida, so we had to take different types of clothes to wear, especially at night. These duffles will give us more room to take what we need. They have multiple pockets, a special shoe compartment, and they’re very durable, and look nice too.”
“Yes, they do,” my dad agreed, and then I opened one of the smaller packages and showed them the next item I’d ordered for Devin.
“You got him socks for a present?” my dad asked when he saw them.
“Yes, I bought him three pair of Bombas socks. Just feel them and you’ll find out why. I even bought three pair for myself.”
“They do feel wonderful,” my mom agreed.
“Barry wears them and he told me they’re very comfortable. In fact, he said it feels like he’s walking on clouds when he wears them. And besides being comfortable, they also have a special arch support.”
“Then you should both enjoy them,” my dad agreed. “And since you bought the socks and duffle bag for yourself, I’d be willing to reimburse you for both of those items and they can be two more presents from your mom and me.”
“Wow! I didn’t expect that, because you must have bought other things for me as well, but if you want to do that, it’s fine with me.”
I then picked up the smallest box and began to open it. “Don’t worry, I didn’t buy one of these for myself,” and then I showed them what was in the box.
“That’s gorgeous and Devin should love it,” my mom said.
It was a sterling silver money clip with a one inch (2.5 cm) sterling silver US dollar sign that was one sixteenth of an inch (0.16 cm) thick, attached to the front.
“Yes, it’s very nice,” my dad agreed, “but are you sure that Devin will use something like this?”
“Yes. Right now he just folds the bills over and sticks them in his pocket and I’ve always worried that he would pull some of the bills out accidentally when he put his hands in his pocket. He sometimes keeps tissues in the same pocket and I’ve always thought he might pull out some bills when he’s reaching for those as well. This will make it so those things don’t happen.”
“Then it’s a very practical and good looking gift.”
“I had it engraved too. The company I was buying it from didn’t do engraving, so I made arrangements with a jeweler in Fort Collins to do that for me. I had it sent to him first, and after he engraved it he would repackage it and send it here.”
I turned the money clip over and showed them the opposite side, which read, ‘To Devin, with all my love, Mac.’ It was broken down into three lines.
“That’s really beautiful, Mickey,” my mom said after she read it. “I’m sure Devin will love it.”
“I certainly hope so. Will you wrap these things for me? I know you’ll do a much better job than I would.”
“That’s probably because I worked as a gift wrapper at a department store during each holiday season when I was in college. I’ll do it before the McCaskills get here. And I’m sure I have a smaller box I can put the duffle bag in, because the box that they both came in is too large for just one duffle bag and it would use up too much wrapping paper.”
“Whatever you think is best. Thanks, Mom.”
We talked for a while longer, and then my parents said goodnight and headed up to bed. After they went upstairs, I got the other presents that I’d purchased out of my old duffle bag and placed them under the tree with the other presents. Now, I was nearly ready for Devin and his parents to arrive here for the holiday.
When I woke up the next morning, my mom offered to fix breakfast for me, even though she and Dad had already eaten. It was comical watching her flutter around the kitchen as she prepared my meal, as well as when she was getting ready for the rest of the day. She was even singing along with the Christmas songs that were playing in the background. She was definitely in a great mood as she continued cleaning and preparing for the McCaskills visit, one week from today. She’d already wrapped Devin’s gifts for me as well.
“Thanks, Mom. They look great,” I said, and then I put them with the other presents under the tree.
It was actually nice to have my parents to myself on Saturday and Sunday, at least when they weren’t doing last minute Christmas shopping, buying groceries, or performing other tasks. We even went to church together on Sunday, which surprised me. We normally only go to church on the Sunday before Christmas and Easter Sunday, so either they are planning to stay home next Sunday or they’ll attend twice before Christmas this year. They might have also done this because they weren’t sure if the McCaskills will want to go to church next Sunday, and this way they’ll be prepared, regardless of their decision.
As expected, I was home alone during the week while my parents were at work, and since my mom had bought a lot of groceries, there was plenty for me to choose from when I fixed a meal each evening. Of course, my mom raved about whatever I’d prepared, although it was never anything fancy or special, but my dad always looked disappointed. That was due to the fact that I didn’t have a car and couldn’t go out and pick up something for dessert, although I think my mom was fine with that.
Pa called during the week to talk with my dad about how he wanted him, and father, and his uncle to pay for the New Year’s Eve packages.
“I’ve already put it on my credit card, so the rest of you can pay me for your package later.”
“Then I’ll pay you for all of us when we’re there for Christmas.”
“Ok, that will be fine.”
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