Remembering the Christmas House (eBook)
150 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-0040-8 (ISBN)
"e;Remembering the Christmas House"e; is a captivating and heartwarming coming-of-age novel that follows the life of a spirited 6-year-old girl as she navigates the ups and downs of growing up. From moments of hope, excitement, and joy to facing daunting challenges and overcoming disasters, her journey is one that will resonate with readers of all ages. Set against the backdrop of a loving and supportive family, this story encapsulates the essence of the holiday spirit and the transformative power of perseverance. Despite encountering horrific adversity, the young protagonist finds the strength within herself to grow, adapt, and ultimately succeed in making her life better. Written with a keen sense of humor, "e;Remembering the Christmas House"e; is a delightful tale that elicits laughter, evokes memories, and tugs at the heartstrings. Its universal themes of family, resilience, and personal growth make it a story that everyone can relate to and find comfort in, from late elementary school students to adults seeking a heartwarming read.
The Christmas House
The old garage door creaked and rattled as the ancient mechanical door opener revealed the immaculately-maintained interior. The front door flew open as Grandma came out, beelining toward Sarah.
“Oh! There’s my big girl!” She fussed as she unhooked the seat belt and scooped Sarah up in her loving arms. Sarah knew what grandparents were all about, and she was ready to be pampered and fussed over.
Grandpa was next. He hugged Marilyn and thrust his right hand toward Tom. “How’s the trip?”
“Tiring!” Tom hinted as he gathered things to carry into the house. “Okay if I take a nap?”
“Suit yourself,” “Mack” MacIntyre said, smiling and looking at Sarah as his wife, Emma, whisked her into the kitchen. His real name was Gerald. He detested that name. Everyone who knew him just called him by his self-appointed nickname “Mack.”
“After you’ve had breakfast!” Grandma shouted in good-natured insistence.
“Ummm, okay. If I must,” Tom said, smiling. He wouldn’t turn down breakfast for the world. The smell of bacon, eggs, and English muffins hung heavily in the air.
“Oh! Now he obeys!” Mack said, smiling as Tom continued unloading the car. “Guess we should have made more breakfasts like this when he was a teenager!” Tom smiled as he walked into the house, remembering some of his teenage antics, then sat down to eat.
“Did you drive all night? Emma asked with a tone of concern.
“Pretty much,” Tom said. “The drive wasn’t too bad. There was a little ice on the road, but it was no big deal. I just slowed down a little and we made it just fine.”
“I was listening to the news. They said there were multiple accidents on the highway,” Mack interrupted. “You didn’t have any trouble?”
“The roads were a little slick is all. Like I said, we just slowed down.” Tom didn’t want to worry his parents with stories of how they spun out on the highway. They had made it there all right; that’s all that mattered.
“So what’s for breakfast? I’m starved!” Tom wanted to change the subject. He knew his parents were classic interrogators. If he didn’t change the subject soon, they would find out about the spin-out, and they would insist on flying to Tom’s house every holiday instead of Tom bringing his young family to them.
That just wouldn’t do. Tom loved coming home for Christmas. It renewed him. It gave him a sense of connection with everything that once made him feel innocent and secure. It wasn’t just his parents, and it wasn’t just the house. It was the combination of the two of them. One didn’t seem complete without the other. Being there at last made Tom feel whole.
Marilyn felt the same way, though she didn’t express her feelings to Tom. Adopted as an infant, she was an only child. And, though they dearly loved each other, Marilyn’s relationship with her adoptive father was uncomfortable at best.
Her dad eventually forced himself to be somewhat civil with Tom, but it was no secret he didn’t care for him. He had opposed the marriage. As a high school math teacher, Tom didn’t earn the kind of income her father thought she deserved. As a result, Marilyn and her father had several blow-ups in the time leading up to her wedding.
After they were married, Marilyn’s father never referred to Tom by his first name. When he was speaking to Marilyn, he always referred to Tom as “your school teacher husband.” When addressing Tom directly, he always called him, “Teach,” and sometimes, when he was feeling particularly superior to, or annoyed with Tom, he would call him, “Ichabod.” Tom and Marilyn both bristled at his being called “Ichabod,” after the gangly and somewhat cowardly schoolteacher from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod Crane. But for Marilyn’s sake, Tom tried not to allow his annoyance to show.
Tom thought about some of their previous encounters. He and Marilyn rotated Christmas visits to each of their parents’ houses every other year. Tom couldn’t stand going to Marilyn’s parents’ house for Christmas. He knew that after a week of being called Ichabod and “Teach,” he would be ready to explode. Nevertheless, for Marilyn’s sake and for Sarah’s, he decided to tough it out whenever they went with as much of a smile as he could muster.
Jim Van Orten was the son of a proud Dutch immigrant. His father, Peter, had come from Holland a few years after World War I had ended, seeking a new life for his family. Peter Van Orten had been a cobbler in Holland prior to coming to the States. Upon arriving and settling down, Peter set up shop in Manhattan. He initially made and repaired all kinds of shoes and boots, but after selling a pair of dress shoes to a businessman, he had decided to specialize in dress and business shoes for the well-to-do.
Van Orten Shoes became immediately popular. Word got around about the high quality and comfort Peter’s shoes afforded the wearer. As a result, Peter was able to save enough money to open a second shop. One of his clients, a wealthy venture capitalist, approached him about opening a factory. After several days of negotiations, Peter agreed.
The Van Orten Shoe factory housed twelve employees. Each employee specialized in at least one aspect of the manufacturing process. Peter oversaw the quality control himself. With his name on the shoe, he wanted to ensure that each shoe met the standards of quality that made his shoes so in demand.
By the time the Great Depression hit, the Van Orten Shoe Factory had nearly a hundred employees, and had distributors from Maine to Florida, and as far west as Chicago. Peter didn’t trust banks, and kept his money in a safe in his house. As the Great Depression worsened and banks began closing, Peter told his wife, “You see? These banks are no good! You told me to put the money in the bank. Where are the banks now?”
Though the ravages of the Great Depression took their toll on the little shoe factory, Peter managed to keep the company operating. He hated having to lay off workers, but he had to either lay off eighty, or risk folding the whole company, leaving nearly a hundred unemployed.
Turning to his then-ten-year-old son, he said, “Jimmy, you learn from this. Trust no one but yourself. Do what you can to make a good living. Many people say that money isn’t everything. They’re right. But it buys everything! You see the people in the streets getting soup and looking for work where there isn’t any? Tell them money isn’t everything! Always remember this!”
Jim did. Upon inheriting a share of his father’s somewhat smaller shoe company, he often worked a seventy or eighty hour work week to make sure the company survived and grew. By the time his only child, Marilyn, had graduated from high school, Jim, or “Dutch” as his friends called him, had built the business to a fifteen-million-dollar-a-year mail-order company.
Jim had told his daughter, “You marry whomever you like, but please make sure he will treat you well, and will always have the means to support you in style.”
This boy, Tom, seemed nice enough. He appeared to love Marilyn, and looked as if he would treat her well. “I don’t like him!” Dutch yelled after Marilyn had invited him over to meet her parents and have dinner. “He probably thinks he can just marry you and get some cushy son-in-law job at the factory. Probably wants to be an executive from the get-go!”
“Dutch!” his wife scolded. “He’s in the other room! What if he hears you?”
“Daddy!” Marilyn shouted through her tears. “You don’t even know him! How can you say that?”
“I know his type. Comes in here all nice and polite. Thinks he’ll schmooze the old man and land himself an easy fortune! Well, it won’t happen here! This old boy’s been around the block a few more times than that green kid, I’ll tell you! And I won’t have a punk like that courting my daughter and expecting a job from me!”
“I don’t want a job from you!” Tom said in an even voice as he walked into the kitchen.
“Tom!” Marilyn’s mother exclaimed as she saw that he had overheard the conversation.
Marilyn ran over to Tom and threw her arms around his neck. “Tommy! I’m so sorry! Please don’t be mad! Daddy’s just—”
“It’s okay.” Tom hugged Marilyn, then dropped his arms and took a step in Dutch’s direction. “I came here tonight to meet you, to get to know you, and to allow you a chance to get to know me. Well, it seems you don’t want to get to know me. You’ve dismissed me as somebody wanting to marry into your family so that I could somehow leech off your success. You should give Marilyn more credit. Can’t you believe anyone would be attracted to her for her and not your money? I don’t want a job from you! I don’t want anything from you!” He turned and looked at Marilyn. “Except your daughter.” There was a pregnant pause as Marilyn, Dutch, and Marilyn’s mother stared at Tom. Marilyn’s eyebrow twitched slightly as she wondered what Tom was up to. “Marilyn, I was going to do this later in a more acceptable setting. But as long as we’re on the subject,” he turned toward Dutch and said, “I also came here to ask your permission to marry your daughter.”
“Hell no!” Dutch boomed. Marilyn began sobbing, looking at Tom and at her father. She looked at her mother with pleading eyes.
“Shut up, Dutch!”...
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 1.9.2023 |
|---|---|
| Sprache | englisch |
| Themenwelt | Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen |
| ISBN-13 | 979-8-3509-0040-8 / 9798350900408 |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
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