A CLEARING HORIZON... with just a little fog (Part 67k)

Meeting my family was a bit ”trying“ for her. It was four new people for her to ”digest“. My mother was at her charming best and immediately sent all the males off to the hospital. When we returned she had both Judy and Elle helping out in the kitchen. The kids were occupied with the presents my parents had bought them. We’d gotten back a little earlier than expected so the turkey wasn’t ready. There was time for presents and as soon as my mother mentioned it I felt bad for Judy. Here she was, among a group of people who she didn’t really know and was now going to watch them open their presents. But, my mother came through again. The first present she handed out was to Judy. She was really surprised and tried her best to turn it down. It was a beautiful light blue cardigan sweater. The next gift was to Elle and it was a beautiful negligee robe. Even though she didn’t try it on I was excited because it was definitely see through and something I wanted to see her in. (I’d like to explain something here... My mother, who could sometimes be a royal pain, had an amazing ability to make things work out when she wanted to. The sweater had originally been meant for Elle and the robe was something she’d bought for herself as a present from my father) I got a book that I’d casually mentioned I'd like to read. Elle and I bought an oversized magnifying glass for my grandfather to help him read his newspaper and he was really pleased with it. All in all, everybody was happy.

Dinner went very well. My mother was an excellent cook and, as is usual at holiday feasts, we all ate too much. The problem for Elle and I was that we still had to go visit Elle’s parents and eat another meal. Judy, although very quiet, seemed happy just to be around people. We had to take her back to the trailer park before heading for Elle's parents. When we stopped in front of her trailer is when the tears started... again. Elle got out with her and walked her into the trailer. I just couldn’t imagine how she felt.

There were more presents for the kids at Elle’s parent’s house. Her brother was supposed to be home on leave but for some reason wasn’t there. I was somewhat surprised that there was no present(s) for Elle. They’d always come through in the past and this was our fourth Christmas together. We had to stuff ourselves again even though it was after 7pm. The girls had fallen asleep which was a nice respite for Elle and I. When we were gathering the kids up to take them home Elle’s mother came up to her and handed her an envelope and told her not to open it until we were back home. One constant thing about her mother was that she was never secretive, about anything. It was very puzzling, especially to Elle. She wanted to open it while driving home but I told her not to.

We carried the kids into the trailer and put them right down on the sofa. With our coats still on Elle ripped it open. It was a letter but I recognized the name on the letterhead. It was from the appliance store where I’d gotten the TV. Elle scanned down the letter and then let out a shriek. Then she started jumping up and down screaming ”A washing machine! A real washing machine!“

Elle’s mother had heard her complain about not having a ”real“ washing machine since we’d moved back. Doing something that she’d never, ever, done before, she approached my mother about doing something about it for Elle. They got our fathers involved and together bought a new Maytag washer. It all came together once they found out we were getting the new trailer. All Elle’s bouncing around and screams didn’t disturb the kids one bit. With our coats still on we went down to the bathroom and just stood there hugging each other and staring at the space that the new machine would occupy. It was a VERY good Christmas!

We went to bed feeling wonderful. Other than the tears shed by Judy when we took her home everything had gone perfectly. Neither of us had any problem sleeping that night.

To be continued...