I Jumped on the sidewalk and did a tightrope bit. Teeter Tottered and then fell, tucked, and rolled. Popped up with a "Tadaaaa". Took a step forward, and tripped over my own feet into a flower bush. A tuck, a roll, then when she came forward to pick me up, I arose with a flower. "This is for the most beautiful woman in all the land. The fairest of em all." Then I bowed and kissed her hand like a Queen in the court.
- -
Telling jokes while walking along the beach during sunset. "Knock knock. .. Whose there... Pinch... Pinch who... Pinch me, because this has to be a dream." She giggles, and our eyes lock as the giggle turns into the most beautiful smile I've ever seen.
and That's how I won your mother's heart. That and i just won the lottery the week before." The man's daughter smiles, along with the children, and the rest of the family in the room.
Christmas time was always a warm heartfelt time of the year. Every other day would be filled with stress and focus, on bills and tasks, and this & that... but on this joyous holiday, the families would come together and fix everything they'd been struggling with.
All that they'd been going through, and they gathered in one place. Whether one fo their houses, or some vacation Aiir BNB, or resort. It was a time fo great smelling food being prepared in the kitchen. The promise of unopened gifts, and surprises that awaited the big reveals. Then... also of these traditions.
Traditions like this one. Where my father in law would give me a task to complete in good faith. This year's request... "Make my daughter smile." A simple request that had a hidden layers, under-laced with purpose.
It had been a rough year... losing our brother, then grandma, and our close cousin all within a few months span. So that beautiful smile that always seemed to brighten up our lives, had seemed to have taken leave more than appearance this year. Thus... this was a task I didn't take lightly.
Now sitting there with the glow from the Christmas tree lights illuminating the sides of our faces, and The warmth of the fiercely burning fire place. Combined with the seafood gumbo wafting from the kitchen, as my mother & mother-in-law worked together to prepare it. That beautiful smile that once turned me into a puddle of jello, made it's grand reappearance in genuine fashion. and everything in the world was as it should be.
