"Mimi?" a telephone voice I couldn't place inquired. "This is Grant! We are in Oklahoma City and will be passing near you in an hour or two and thought we would stop by!" Oh, our grandson and his bride of six months! We hadn't seen them since their wedding! Of course I wanted them to stop!
Their 90-minute drive should give me enough time to get the house in order. We had just gotten home from a Christmas trip ourselves on Friday night, then after buying groceries on Saturday we had relaxed and recuperated the rest of the day. Today was Sunday, and after coming home from church and cooking a big meal, it was easy to ignore the suitcases still on the bed, clothes spilling over from our searching out something we needed.
Although I'd cleaned house before our trip, what with going through 10-days' mail and generally messing up in our laid-back euphoria of being home, things were in a bit of disarray. I could just close the bedroom doors, but what if they wanted to see the house? Jessica had never been here. I sprang into action and was soon barking orders to my husband for assistance. While he began to hang up his clothes, I freshened up the bathroom, hanging towels and emptying the wastebasket.
Thankfully, I had done the pile of dishes in the sink accumulated from our lunch, breakfast and Saturday's snacks. Also, thankfully, there was no church tonight, so we would be home! Some fast picking up and straightening helped, and while Howard went to the store for snacks and soft drinks, I reinstated Christmas by searching out cords and plugging in the tiny white lights on mantel, nativity scene, little tree and photo displays. Window candles would be inviting, so they were plugged in, too. Just as I finished, I heard them at the door.
The television volume on the Walton's had been lowered, and the fireplace was flickering its welcome. "Wow!" the kids exclaimed when they came into the bright warmth of the room. "This is cozy!" "Where is the bathroom?" was the first question on their respective lips, and I was happy to show them.
"I like this house!" Jessica said of our Craftsman bungalow and my slightly-overdone decor of mismatched pieces from a lifetime of homemaking. We had such a good visit! Family news was discussed, laughs and pictures were shared, with general catching up and clueing our new granddaughter-in-law in on who was who in the family photos. Grant and Pa Pa made plans for fishing when the weather warms up, so perhaps they will stop by again one of these days!
My many grandchildren are rapidly becoming adults, but we have a small crop of young ones, including little Isaac, who will be two months old in a week. We may not be rich in this world's goods, but we are rich in loved ones and always happy to see them!
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