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Mother's Christmas
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Mother's Christmas |
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Poet deVine
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-26
Posts 22612Hurricane Alley |
The old woman sat in her chair watching the scampering squirrel on the lawn. It was Christmas morning. She had already eaten breakfast and unwrapped the one gift her son had sent. A radio, made in Taiwan. With so many dials and knobs that she was afraid to touch it. In fact, she had no clue how to turn it on! She waited now for the time to go out to the kitchen to make her dinner. A small turkey roll, a box of stuffing mix, some instant potatoes and a package of gravy. She took the time yesterday to make a pie from some apples she got at the Salvation Army last week so she’d have fresh pie for dessert. She smiled at the antics of the squirrel. He was almost human looking. He ran around searching for the nuts he buried before the last snowfall. The old woman fell silent as sleep took her. An hour later, she woke and went to the bathroom where she took her morning medication. She walked to the kitchen and though it was only 10:15, she decided to start her dinner. Her son, Jeff, said he would call at noon her time and she didn’t want to talk to him while she was eating, it wasn’t polite. She walked slowly around the kitchen, sometimes holding onto the table or the counter to steady herself. She hummed Christmas carols softly as she worked. Halfway through each one, she lost the tune and it trailed off. At 79, her memory wasn’t what it used to be. She ate and was done by noon. The cleaning up was put aside as a treat. She would wait til after the phone call to clear the table and do the dishes. In anticipation, she returned to her chair by the window. The phone sat on a small table within arm’s reach. She watched the squirrel again. And then she slept. The sound of tapping woke her. She looked groggily out the window and saw that the squirrel now sat right on her windowsill, holding a nut in his tiny paws. He was hitting it against the windowpane. “My! You are a sweet boy!” she said to him as though he could hear. She glanced at the clock. It was 6:15! She touched the phone as though she would be able to tell if it was working. She lifted the receiver and listened to the healthy dial tone. Sighing, she replaced it quietly. There was no call. Worried, she thought about calling him. But he wasn’t home. He and his wife and the three girls always went skiing for the holidays. She didn’t remember where he said he would be this year. She decided to clean the kitchen and wait. ******* Jeff sat in front of the fire in the sky lodge, drinking rum and talking business to the man from Texas that he had met earlier. He reveled in the feeling of power he had now. He was a CEO of a rising Internet company. His wife was a designer and his daughters were all A students. Life was good. He glanced at the clock. Almost midnight! Then he remembered. He promised to call his mother. Oh, well. It could wait he decided. She was asleep by now anyway. She usually went to bed at seven in the wintertime. He mentally made a note to call her in the morning. The next morning, the Texan and his wife invited Jeff and his family to a brunch at the home of a singer who vacationed in this ski area. Jeff eagerly accepted. He would make numerous contacts there! For then next three days, Jeff and his wife were wined and dined by the social elite. Jeff, proud of himself for finally achieving what he had always wanted, focused on networking the new friends he was meeting. ******* January 1, 2001 The phone rang. “Mr. Wilson?” a voice said. “Yes, this is Jeff Wilson.” “Mr. Wilson, have you spoken with your mother recently?” “May I ask who’s calling?” Jeff asked. Alarmed now that maybe someone was threatening him in some way, he became wary. “This is Tony Wheeler, Deputy Sheriff of Eaton County. Mr. Wilson, we received a call today from a neighbor of your mother’s. They were worried about her. Seems they haven’t seen her since before Christmas, almost 10 days ago. When was the last time you spoke to your mother?” “Well, it was on Christmas day…no! Wait, I couldn’t call her then. It must have been a couple of days after that. What’s going on? What are you going to do?” Jeff asked. Mentally, he was rearranging his schedule to make a quick trip to his hometown, 120 miles away. It would only take half a day, he reasoned. He could do it tomorrow morning and still make it back in time for his meeting with the lawyer about the new corporate logo. “Sheriff, I’ll meet you at my mothers at nine a.m. tomorrow. Is that ok?” “Couldn’t you come today?” the Sheriff asked in mild disbelief. “No. My wife’s family is here for dinner. I’ll try to call my mother again. Give me your number and I’ll let you know what she says.” After hanging up, Jeff returned to the living room to watch the Rose Bowl game with his father in law. The coroner’s report showed that Mrs. Gladys Wilson died at 8:00 p.m. on Christmas Day. She was found sitting in her chair by the window, her hand placed hopefully on the telephone receiver. As they removed her body, a small squirrel sat on the windowsill. The coroner’s assistant later told his friends jokingly that he could swear the squirrel was crying. [This message has been edited by Poet deVine (edited 12-13-2000).] |
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| © Copyright 2000 Poet deVine - All Rights Reserved | |||
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Romy Senior Member
since 2000-05-28
Posts 1170Plantation, Florida |
Oh Sharon, this is so sad! It's as if your character is real and I want to go visit her and comfort her at Christmas! Maybe I'll go visit some people at the local nursing home. It's true, there are so many elderly people with time on their hands, waiting patiently for just a few moments from their children! I'm going to call my dad today! Thank-you for writing this sad reminder to remember how much they mean to us! |
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athena4 Senior Member
since 2000-12-10
Posts 622 |
Dear DeVine, How sadly and beautifully touching. Your imagery was so vivid, I could almost see the squirrel outside the window. Your heartfelt emotions and pain show us what is really important, and how fragile each moment we have is. We can never call, or tell our loved ones "I love you" too much. I wish you the best... Elise |
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serenity blaze Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738 |
You didn't tell me about this one...ON PURPOSE. Heavy Duty reminder here, sharon. and the squirrel WAS crying...sigh, sigh SIGH! Thank you, for the excellent read! |
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shira Member
since 2000-12-12
Posts 88Hamburg, PA |
How absolutely heart wrenching! Oh, what a sad sad story, but it really makes me think. Have I ever done this to a loved one before? Kept them waiting like this? I think I will think twice next time if I ever have to "put off for later" something as simple as a call. Thank you for reminding us how important we all are in the lives of our loved ones. -Shira |
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LoveBug
Moderator
Member Elite
since 2000-01-08
Posts 4697 |
Sharon, this is so terrible! It brought tears to my eyes to think that people spend their Christmases like this. I go to the nursing home every once in awhile with my voice class, but now it doesn't seem like anything. Thank you for reminding us to share the joy of Christmas with others. "Where there is great love there are always miracles" -Cather "Love heals everything, and love is all there is"- Zukav |
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kaile
since 2000-02-06
Posts 5146singapore |
i ditto..it hurt when i read to the part when she was leaving the cleaning up as a treat...how lonely she must be... i only hope i wont be as blind as to do the same thing to my loved ones  |
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Dusk Treader
Moderator
Senior Member
since 1999-06-18
Posts 1187St. Paul, MN |
Such a sad tale Sharon... It's so easy to forget, and it's such a shame so many people do! As always excellent and realistic storytelling. It draws me right into the tale. Abrahm Simons "I'm not sick, but I'm not well, and I'm so hot, cause I'm in Hell." - Harvey Danger |
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