Students named 4 numbers, each to which a setting, character, place and situation were assigned.
Character: a recent high school graduate
Setting: the porch of an old farmhouse
Time: sometime in December
Situation: someone feels like giving up
JennyLee couldn't believe she had already been out of high school for seven months now. She nudged the floor of the porch with her toes, making the swing sway forward and back slowly and rhythmically. She closed her eyes and laid her head back, hugging herself tightly, trying to fight off the bite of the winter air. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, her body relaxing as she did.
The day after graduation she had come to see her Grammy. It had been far too long since she had been here. It seemed just yesterday that she was young and spent every summer with Grammy and Poppy in their old farmhouse in the Kansas prairies. She loved visiting. Grammy and Poppy would spoil her shamelessly, though they had their own way of getting her to help with chores around the farm.
It had been four or five years since those days, though. As she hit her teenage years, she lost her appreciation for her grandparents. She would have much rathered hang out with her friends and swoon over boys in her classes. She kept in touch with Grammy and Poppy of course, and she would see them at Thanksgiving and Christmas every year.
Poppy passed away shortly after JennyLee graduated though, and she was shocked into the realization that her grandparents wouldn't always be there. Shortly after, she packed up most of her clothes and cosmetics, a few books and CDs, and Franklin, the teddy bear Grammy gave her for her 8th birthday. She loaded it all into the car her dad bought her for graduation, and took off to Kansas. She;d been here ever since, enjoying her time with Grammy, helping her around the house and just spending time with her, talking and learning from her.
Christmas was coming soon, though, and the pair of ladies had decorated the old family farmhouse to the nines, decking every hall and hanging every decoration they could find. JennyLee smiled to herself as she thought about it. She loved Christmas and the time with family it brought. As she daydreamed, imagining how this year's Christmas would be, she couldn't help but frown.
Grammy had changed since JennyLee was a little kid. She had always been so cheerful and happy, optimistic and the one everyone turned to for help and counsel. Not anymore, though. She seemed tired, JennyLee thought, more tired that she had ever seen Grammy. She moved slower, talked slower, did less, and most noticably, smiled less. JennyLee's frown deepened as she stood from the swing and gathered the blanket around her, then went inside.
The warmth and glow from the fireplace lifted JennyLee's spirits for a moment. She had always loved a flickering flame to sit in front of. Quickly, though, her thoughts returned to her Grammy. She tossed the blanket onto the couch as she passed through the living room and made her way into the kitchen where she found Grammy at the counter, stirring something sweet-smelling in a huge glass bowl. JennyLee stopped and watched Grammy for a few moments, examing the faded blue eyes, the creases around her eyes and mouth, the slight frown on her face. Grammy looked so sad.
JennyLee walked to Grammy and hugged her suddenly, clinging to her tightly. Grammy stopped her task and put her hands over JennyLee's and rubbed them softly. "Babygirl, what's wrong? Is everything ok?"
JennyLee took a deep breath and pulled away from Grammy slowly, letting the elder woman turn to face her granddaughter. She looked Grammy in the eye and her mind raced, trying to decide how to phrase her thoughts. "Grammy, I am worried about you. I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but you're so different. It worries me. Are you sick or something?"
Grammy shook her head slowly and looked down. Wearily she lifted her hand to her face, covering her eyes as her shoulders slumped. With a heavy sigh she looked up again and smiled weakly at JennyLee. "Oh, babygirl. I am so sorry you've been worrying. I wish you had come to me earlier.
"To tell the truth, I'm lonely. I miss your Poppy. I don't know how to live without him. Oh, I don't want to burden you with this. You're too young and should be carefree," Grammy lifted her hand to brush JennyLee's cheek softly.
JennyLee held Grammy's hand, leaning her cheek into the weathered hand, then she gently tugged Grammy's hand, guiding her to the table. The pair sat next to each other, still holding hands, as JennyLee said, "Grammy, you're one of my best friends. You can tell me anything. I promise."
Grammy sighed again heavily, as if she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. JennyLee could see the tears form in Grammy's eyes as they began to turn red. With a weak, shuddering voice she began. "Honey, this is going to be hard for you to understand, and that isn't your fault. It's just that you're so young and have so much ahead of you. But when you've spent 57 years with someone, waking up with them, eating with them, shopping with them, going to bed with them...well, when they're gone, there's just a hole there, and you don't know what to do to fill it.
"Losing your Poppy has made me realize that I'm at the end of my life. And now that I don't have him to spend the rest of my life with, I guess I'm just tired. I don't have anything to look forward to each day. I feel a little bit like I just wanna give up."
"Oh Grammy!" JennyLee sprung from her seat and embraced her Grammy tightly. "Please don't say that Grammy! Please! I can't even imagine what my life would be like without you! Please don't talk like that!"
JennyLee began to weep softly as Grammy pulled her into her lap, snuggling her like when she was a little girl. Softly the two women rocked gently, both weeping for their own reasons, clinging to one another as if holding on to dear life itself.
"Babygirl, I am so sorry. I didn't want to worry you or burden you," Grammy said. "It's ok. I promise everything will be ok. I just miss your Poppy is all. Especially now with Christmas 'round the corner. All I can think about is your Poppy lugging the Christmas tree up the steps and everyone coming together. It just makes me sad that he's not here for it."
JennyLee kissed her Grammy's cheek softly and slid from her lap to kneel on the floor at Grammy's feet, her hands grasping Grammy's in her lap. She looked up and with her voice full of love, JennyLee whispered, "Grammy, I love you so much. And I've been thinking about it since I came to visit. If it's ok with you, I'd really like to move in here with you. I could find a job in town and take some college classes online. You wouldn't be lonely, and I could help you out around the house. We could do so much together! I want you to teach me how to quilt, and I have always dreamed of helping you in your garden again, like when I was little.
"Oh Grammy, please say I can come live with you."
Grammy's eye flooded with tears as she leaned down quickly to pull her granddaughter to her. She squeezed her tightly and rubbed her back. "Oh honey, I can't imagine anything I would love more!"
That Christmas was one of the best the family had had. And although Poppy's chair sat empty through the revelry, JennyLee, Grammy and the rest of the family used the time together to plan get-togethers, family vacations, and Grammy and JennyLee's future. For several Christmases to follow, the family gathered in the old farmhouse. Springtime always found them spending a week in the mountains; the beach was a favorite vacation spot for them all in summer; and trips to camp in the forest were how they spent a week each fall.
When Grammy's time to join Poppy came, many, many years later, she left the old farmhouse to JennyLee. Determined to honor and uphold her grandparents' legacy, she welcoed her family back each year at Christmas, and without realizing it, they always left Grammy and Poppy's favorite chairs empty, as if the couple would join them for their celebrations.
No comments:
Post a Comment