Christmas for Grandpa
She waved ate me as I entered the garden. Between the faded curtains, the flowers on the windowsill were looking bright. She sat in her favorite chair, I remembered that from the last time I visited. That was some time ago, with my (then still) fiancée. Every time we visited his grandparents, I had come home with happy feeling about so much friendliness and love. The little country house seemed run down. Granny was 78 now, and Granddad 86.
“He is losing his marbles”, Granny said lovingly, when I sat down with a cup of tea. “At night, he cannot find the toilet anymore, and he piddles in a corner of the corridor upstairs”. I must have looked disgusted, for she quickly added: “Oh, I have put a piece of plastic there, so it’s not too bad”. I wondered how long they would be able to stay in their house…
“I have a beautiful Christmas tree in the back of the land, but I don’t have the force to go and get it.” She sighed. It was almost Christmas, and I had wondered why they did not have a tree. “Last year we still did it together. It was so nice, we even had little lights in the tree in front of the house!” Her eyes were shiny at the thought of last Christmas. “No, this year no Christmas for us, well never mind. We have so many good Christmas memories, so we don’t complain”.
Suddenly I got a thought: “Grandma, what if I would get the tree? I have time this afternoon, I can just call the boss that I take an afternoon off, and we put the tree up and the lights in the front garden.” Grandma looked at me in disbelief. “But, you have to work for sure?” “No, that’s fine, it’s Friday, and it is almost Christmas. There is not much to do anyway.”
Her face lighted up. When we put on boots, and got the saw, her cheeks were pink from excitement, and her eyes were bright. An hour and a half later, the tree with the lights and the balls and the little silver angels looked great in the living room. I got a ladder to put the lights in the tree in the front garden, and before dark everything was ready.
Suddenly Grandpa started to speak: “Oh, it’s Christmas! I am so happy, I love Christmas. Do we have presents too?” His eyes
were reflecting the little lights, and his face shone with happiness. Grandma went over to him, and sitting next to him on the sofa, she gave him a big hug, and as tears trickled down her cheeks, she smiled at him. She spoke softly:”Yes, sure we will have presents, Pa. We will, we will…”
Early morning the next day I went to the mall . I bought chocolates, perfume for Grandma, after shave for Grandpa (the one I thought I had seen in the bathroom some years ago), a little painting of a doe under a tree, rose scented candles and a new tablecloth. I had it all wrapped in shiny paper, and when I arrived at their home, everything was still quiet. I put the big box on the doorstep, and drove away slowly. It was a pity that I would not see Grandpa’s face when he would discover that Father Christmas had not forgotten him.
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