The VLC - Adelaide

Christmas

It was an extra three hour drive to my grandparent's house, on my dad's side of the family, and just as we began to settle in, my phone rang. I was nervous that it would be Gavin calling me, and if I didn't answer, my parents would begin an inquisition to find out whose call I would possibly ignore. But, it wasn't Gavin. It was Michael.

I made sure to answer loudly as I walked out of the room, so that there was no question as to the identity of the caller. "Hi, Michael." He sounded genuinely glad to hear me, but scolded me for not calling him in the weeks following Thanksgiving. I made excuses about classes being busy taking tests before school let out for break. The truth was, I simply hadn't felt like calling him. I was wrapped up in Gavin and the new developments in our relationship. Michael wanted to know when I would be back on his side of the mountains so we could get together. Letting him know I would have to talk to my parents and get back to him, I hung up the phone.

"So, what did Michael want?" My mom was on me as soon as I reentered the room.

"He wants to get together when we get back over there."

"I think we can work something out, right Mark?" She looked at my dad sending silent messages with her eyes. My parents were always doing that. Trying to speak without saying anything out loud. What they didn't realize is that I had learned their language. After fourteen years of seeing it, I began to know what they weren't saying. Right now, it sounded something like this, "Mark, you need to say yes. I am not really asking. Don't forget that we are trying to get Addy to focus on appropriate boys. Besides, Michael lives far away. He is a safe choice. We won't even have to monitor her behavior if she isn't interested in any guys in California. This is important."

As expected, my dad said, "Of course. We were planning on spending a lot of time in Clearview visiting. We won't be back again until summer so it will be good to see some more of our friends. Granted, we won't be heading that way for another two days, but I am sure we can fit plenty of time in for you to see your friends."

My dad's parents' house was even quieter than my other grandparents. My grandpa believed that children are mostly to be seen and not heard. He could be fun at times, but generally he just watched golf on mute, or worked in his garden. My grandmother was a wonderful person, and the world's best cook, but she was very quiet. Each morning we got up and she had a choice of three cereals, a healthy choice, and two sugary cereals. She also made us each toast and we had to have half a slice of grapefruit. Breakfast wasn't exactly an example of her best cooking, but rather evidence of the formulaic way they live. For dinner, she would make roasts, and pies, and delicious potatoes and salads. Breakfast had to be light after gorging yourself at night. My dad snuck in a piece of leftover pie with his breakfast every time. At the end of a visit I always felt fat and happy.

My dad had two sisters, and they each had four kids and they all lived near his parents. He was the youngest child by six years, so I only had one cousin my age. The rest of them were older. Rachel was the cousin my age, and when we were younger we got along really well. We loved to play together, anything from Barbies, to make believe, swimming, or other sports. This visit didn't go as well. She came over to see me the first night we got in, but didn't end up staying over, for the first time ever. Apparently, I had changed too much. She still seemed very young and naive. She wanted to play "house." I wasn't really into it, but I tried to be nice. Eventually, we both realized that neither of us was having any fun. So, after dinner, she went back home. Other than Brody getting yelled at by my grandfather, the weekend was uneventful.

We returned to my other grandparent's house for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Every year, they put a giant, twelve foot Christmas tree in the front room. It made the entire house smell like pine. My grandma did not skimp on the decorations either. She wrapped the stair railings with garlands and bells that lit up and played music. In the living room she displayed her extensive collection of miniature Christmas village buildings. A train ran throughout the house. When Brody was just a toddler he used to chase after it, laughing and squealing the whole time. In every corner there was a stuffed santa, or Christmas doll, or some other Christmas themed item. On every couch or chair you could find a throw in red or green, or patterned with reindeer or holly. She used china which featured the "12 Days of Christmas," from the day after Thanksgiving until New Year's, and there was never a shortage of Christmas cookies or candy in the house. My favorite tradition was making the candy with my grandma. Brody wasn't interested and Mary and Max were a bit young to be working with the hot, melted chocolate, or the boiling corn syrup. However, all three of them were more than happy to sample each batch. We used little molds of teddy bears, Christmas trees, and snowmen, to make chocolate on popsicle sticks. We also made a very grown up treat called divinity. I was the only kid who liked it, probably because of the nuts.