A BIG STEP... wise or not (Part 113d)

A BIG STEP... wise or not (Part 113d)

Much to every bank employee’s relief, there was extra money in the paychecks we received on Christmas eve. To be truthful, I was disappointed. The net amount of bonus money in my check was a little over $125. Of course it was better than nothing but from what I knew the bank had had a very profitable year. I did ask Hobie about it and he told me that I would’ve gotten more had I been employed for the whole year. He said it was up to the Trustees and not a management decision. Basically, those who had been there the whole year got 5% and those who who had six months service but less than a full year got half of that. Those who started after July 1st got nothing. I wasn’t very happy and sort of knew that there were some who were really disappointed. I made a big mental note to myself to pursue the matter in the upcoming year.

We wanted to celebrate Christmas in our new house and told both sets of parents that we wouldn’t be visiting with them on that day and that there was only going to be one house for Christmas and it was ours. I budgeted out the money to the point I knew we’d have enough for the turkey and all the fixings but not much else. Elle and I had worked up a story to tell the kids why Santa didn’t make it to our house. We were going to tell them that we’d forgotten to let Santa and his elves know that we’d moved. I remember reading ”Twas the Night Before Christmas“ to the kids after church and then sending them off to bed. We were sitting on the sofa looking at the small tree we’d set up and not being all that enthusiastic about decorating it before we went to bed. I finally got up and thought I saw headlights out by the garage. I watched as my mother and father got out of their car and proceeded to unload a boxes from the trunk of it. By the time I got my coat on they were at the back door. It wasn’t really my parents... it was Mr. and Mrs. Santa in disguise.

To say that they saved Christmas for the kids is putting it mildly. They got more than we would’ve bought for them even if I’d had some money. Christmas day with everybody (including our brothers) at our house made for a memorable day. I think the only negative was that it’s the only Christmas that not one picture was taken. With the new house and all that went with it, pictures (or I should say film) were never on the radar. And speaking of the house, Elle’s parents gave us $200 to buy shades and curtains for the girls rooms. My parents kicked in another $200 to be used towards buying a dinette set for the kitchen, something that was drastically needed. When everybody had left we took our ”want/need“ list and happily crossed out some of the items and then headed off to bed.

In the few weeks we’d been in the house we really hadn’t met many people. The neighbors to the West were related to the people we’d bought the house from. They stopped by after we’d been in for about a week. Jon actually farmed the land that bordered two sides of our property. His wife, Kathleen, was a stay at home mom with three boys similar in age to our three girls. The boys were very disappointed when they found out our kids were girls. Jon had what seemed to be a permanent smile on his face and came across as very quiet. Kathleen was very animated and the exact opposite of Jon. On a first meeting basis they appeared to be very nice.

While they were there I asked about the neighbors to the East whose house was right next to ours. I saw Jon roll his eyes and had an immediate panic attack. Kathleen happened to catch his rolling eyes and stepped right in and described them as "OK but different“. That didn’t make me any more comfortable. My first thought was that I’d done it again... made a major decision without getting all the necessary details. After Kathleen had made her statement Jon spoke up and said he didn’t personally know all that much about them but, his uncle, who had lived in this house for longer than the neighbors had lived in theirs, had not said anything bad about them. They definitely kept to themselves and he had only seen the man a few times over recent years. He was a WWII disabled veteran and pretty much a recluse. The story was that he was mad at the government and felt he hadn’t been treated right. Their house had belonged to his wife’s family and when they died she inherited it. They had a daughter who ”wasn’t right“. Kathleen jumped in at that point and said that she’d been born with some ”mental difficulties“ and proceeded to scold Jon. While she did she said that she’d seen her with her mother a few times and that there was nothing wrong with her except that she was ”slow“.

I’d glanced at Elle a few times and I could see the furrow on her brow. This was news that didn’t make me happy and I was sure Elle wasn’t either. I think Kathleen saw the look on Elle’s face and suggested that we call Jon’s aunt and ask her about the people, especially the girl. She did say that they (Jon and Kathleen) had never been made aware of any problems. Their niece and two nephews had grown up living right next door and if anything had happened she was sure that she and Jon would’ve been told. It was a bit more comforting but still disturbing news.

Elle and I did talk about contacting the people we’d bought the house from to confirm what Jon and Kathleen had told us but, for some reason, were reluctant to do so. New Years Eve was quiet for us. With no money to spare and no local friends we decided to just watch TV. After the ceremonies in Times Square we headed for bed. On my way, for some reason, I stopped in the kitchen and turned on the outside light. I had to look twice to see that it was snowing. I was a bit surprised because my father, still the amateur weatherman, hadn’t called to warn me. I passed it off as probably just a snow flurry. We hadn’t had a measurable snow yet this Winter and if it was to be a storm I was sure he would have called.

To be continued...