Out of the Frying Pan

Christmas Morning

** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only **

The next morning I was up early like usual. I knew Grandpa was already up, so trying to be quiet as I could, I headed for the kitchen. “Good morning, Grandpa, Merry Christmas,” I said. Grandpa replied the same.

He was already preparing food for our Christmas dinner. There were cans of cranberries already open, pies from Dot’s thawing out on a rack, and platters sitting on the counter waiting to be filled with dressing, turkey, and such. I went over to the window and saw that it was snowing, not hard, just a sprinkling of flakes slowly floating to earth. “Not much snow so far,” I reported, “maybe an inch, inch and a half at most.”

Grandpa nodded then asked me why I hadn’t gone in to look at the tree. “I can wait,” I said. He raised an eyebrow at me. “It’s Christmas day, Grandpa,” I explained. Our folks will be coming today and then we have to leave. I just don’t want it to end.”

Grandpa stopped what he was doing and told me to sit down. He sat next to me and said “Someone once said, ‘All good things must come to an end.’ Did you have a good time?” he asked.

Yes sir,” I said, “I had the best of times.”

“Is it something you will always remember?”

“Yes, sir. I’ll never forget,” I replied.

“Then it’s never really gone. The memory will be there as long as you remember and so will I.” Grandpa laid his hand on the back of my neck and gave it a little squeeze. ”Let’s show your folks what a time we had and what a good time they can have and add to their memories. Go and get ready for breakfast now, we have a lot more to do.”

“Yes sir.” I went into the parlor to get my clothes and remembered something else I needed to get. I went back into the bedroom and opened the closet as quietly as I could, got my suitcase out, then placed it on the bed and opened it. Inside were the two gifts I had gotten for Grandpa. Back in the parlor, I peeked around the corner to see where Grandpa was, reached down and picked up my clothes and went into the front room. There was the tree in all its splendor, and at the bottom of the tree were three stacks of gifts, four boxes each, plus more for my mom and dad and also there were three socks hanging from the sides of the fireplace. I quickly placed my gifts for Grandpa under the tree and went off to the bathroom to get ready.

When I came back into the kitchen, Grandpa said, “I heard you go in and look at the tree.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, you feel a bit better now?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” I said. “Thank you.”

“Thank me for what?” He smiled, his Irish eyes twinkling, “Are you sure it was me?”

I looked around the kitchen at the food in various stages of preparation. “What do you want me to do, Grandpa?” I asked.

“You can start by stringing the beans and I’ll go wake your brothers up,” Grandpa said.

I got the colander and a piece of newspaper which I laid out on the table. I piled the beans on the newspaper and started snapping the strings out, putting them in the colander to be washed. Meanwhile, Grandpa went in to wake up my brothers. I heard him say, “Get up, it’s Christmas day.” Boy, the racket they made getting up, thumping and bumping into everything. Grandpa came back in the kitchen and sat down, smiling. We could even hear as they got hung up in the doorway trying to get out at the same time, and of course they made a dash for the tree. Grandpa and I sat there laughing.

When they finally came into the kitchen, they were smiling from ear to ear and were wide awake. They both said “Good morning, Merry Christmas,” and Grandpa and I answered them back the same.

Grandpa told them to go and get ready for breakfast and to make their beds. Off they went, I could hear them in the bedroom making sounds like they were getting their suitcases out. I knew what they were doing, so I wasn’t surprised to hear them return back to the front room. Lanny came back into the kitchen with his clothes and sat down, waiting for his turn in the bathroom.

Grandpa asked Lanny how he felt. Lanny replied, “A little tired still, I guess from being up so late.”

“I reckon we all are,” Grandpa said. Soon Lenny came in and Lanny went out. I just about had the last of the beans done, and Grandpa had breakfast almost ready, a feast that included biscuits and gravy, bacon, ham, and sausage. When Lanny came back in and took his place, the beans were done and sitting on the counter and breakfast was ready and waiting on the table.

After the breakfast dishes were done, Grandpa had us shucking corn, peeling potatoes, cleaning all the vegetables, and setting the table for Christmas dinner. When those chores were done, it was time to head out to the barn. Grandpa led us from the house at a brisk pace, so in no time we were there. Once inside, he turned to my brothers and said, “Don’t worry about cleaning out the stalls, I’ll catch up on that myself. First thing, I need y’all to help me with the snow blade.” I smiled. I knew Grandpa wouldn’t need reminding about plowing the driveway.

Then he looked over at me. “Mike, you go and start feeding the animals.”