Christmas Eve day was filled with activities. Knowing Hope would be exhausted from traveling, and from their late night gab session, Lisa suggested that Hope sleep in while she got up early in order to go over to Susan’s in time for breakfast. By the time she arrived, Harry and Carol Anne were already there helping with breakfast and setting the table. “Good morning, everyone,” Lisa said as she walked in the front door. “I intended to get here extra early so I could make some cinnamon buns but I just could not drag myself out of bed this morning.”
Seeing the smile on her sister’s face, Susan questioned, “Did you and Hope have a chance to chat last night after we all left?”
“Yes,” Lisa replied as she walked up and slid into Ben’s open arms. “We sat on her bed and talked until almost three this morning. I guess our family dynamic, even with our Harry the hilarious over here, really impressed Hope.”
Giving Lisa a boyish grin, Harry offered, “I do my best, Lisa.”
“Oh, Harry, she thinks you are great,” Lisa clarified. “Hope kept comparing you to her fiancé and wished he was a little less serious all the time.” Then, patting Ben’s chest, Lisa announced, “Hope is so impressed with my Ben. She said anyone who can laugh like he does must make life interesting and fun for everyone around him.” Turning around, Lisa asked, “Where is Benny? I wanted to tell him she always wanted a little brother and thinks he is awesome.”
“Benny just got up and is in the shower,” Ben offered. “Not exactly sure why, since all of us guys are headed over to the high school gym after breakfast. Harry was able to open the school gym for a few hours so Scott, Benny, and I are going to get in one of Harry’s famous workouts so we can eat all the holiday goodies we know you and Aunt Gladys brought with you.” Then turning to Scott, Ben warned, “Scott, I helped them load the tins of cookies, boxes of fudge and Christmas candies, not to mention the two cakes and three pies. We will need more than a three-hour workout with all those goodies laid out before us.”
“It is the same every Christmas around here, Ben,” Scott moaned, patting his belly. “Get used to it. Between Aunt Gladys, my mom, and Lisa, the house looks like a pastry shop.”
“I’ve never heard you complain, Scott,” Lisa teased. “As a matter of fact, you are always the first to ask for seconds, true?”
“Very true, Lisa,” Scott admitted, “but now that I am in my early forties, I need to slow up on the sweets.” He hesitated for just a second before adding, “Well, maybe I’ll slow down next year.”
Turning to Susan as she brought in the breakfast casserole, Scott asked, “So what are you gals doing today?”
“As soon as you guys leave, Lisa and I are packing up the kids and going back to Mom’s house. I want to spend some quiet time with Aunt Gladys and Hope. Lisa has some secret project she and Lisa Anne are doing. Besides, I want to help Mom with dinner, if she will let me.”
Drawing the discussion back to Hope, Susan asked hopefully, “Lisa, you said Hope is comparing our family with Michael’s family? Do you suppose she is having second thoughts about him?”
“I certainly hope so, Susan,” Lisa answered back. “But just as she says something critical of him, she follows that up with some statement like, ‘but he will get better once we are married,’ or ‘when we have our own place and he is no longer under his father’s thumb,’ kind of remarks. I did my best to keep quiet and just let her make her own comparisons. Hope told me that every dinner at the Gundersol mansion is a war game strategy session. But then she said, ‘but when Michael is elected that should go away.’ ”
Looking around the table, Lisa paused, then said, “You guys are all great. I can’t tell you how many times last night Hope recounted to me something one of you said or did that impressed her. She is watching how you men are treating us women and she is struggling because, even with all her excuses, he never treats her very well.” Tearing up with thankfulness, Lisa said, “Thank you guys for showing Hope what she should be able to expect from someone she intends to spend the rest of her life with. She has to see it because right now she will not hear it.”
Ben waited until he was sure Lisa was finished talking about Hope, before he asked, “Susan, would you mind driving over to the Thomas’ house without Lisa? She and I have had no time alone together since I asked her to marry me.” Turning to Lisa with a huge grin, Ben asked, “You don’t mind giving me about two hours of your day today, do you?”
Once in the car Ben filled her in on his little secret. “Lisa, you and I are not kids anymore. Neither of us is interested in a big fancy wedding. We just want to get married, right?”
“Right, Ben. So what’s up? You aren’t kidnapping me and running off to elope, are you?” Lisa questioned, only half kidding.
“No, but I do have another proposal for you. City Hall will close at noon today. I think we should go down there and get our marriage license. I know you want everyone who loves you at your wedding. Hope is here, and we sure don’t want to have our wedding the next time she has to come back here for Gordon’s trial, so, why not now? I talked with Scott last night and he said he could call their pastor and see if he would be willing to come over to the Thomas’ house on Saturday afternoon, at two o’clock, and marry us in front of all our family before we have to get Hope back to the airport for her six o’clock flight.”
Ben sat quietly looking at Lisa trying to absorb all of this new information, when she leaped into his arms and shouted, “Let’s do it, Ben!”
“And by the way, Lisa, we can have Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday for our honeymoon. Just in case you said yes to all this, Scott went ahead and booked us the honeymoon suite at the Old Plantation where he and Susan got married. He said that is their wedding present to us and they will keep Benny busy while we are away.”
“I love that place, Ben. Susan took me out there a few years back. It is perfect. But can we keep this a secret for now? Just until after we meet with Mrs. Reiner. Hope has enough to think about right now. On Friday morning we will tell the family and on Saturday we will get married.”
“Just one thing, Lisa. We do need to tell Mr. and Mrs. Thomas they are going to have a wedding in their living room on Saturday. That is something you just can’t spring on people.”
Lisa smiled in agreement, “You are right. Besides, Mrs. Thomas would not forgive me if I denied her the opportunity of decorating the cake for us. I don’t know how she is going to do it and keep it a secret.” Then, remembering they would tell everyone Friday morning, she added, “She won’t have to keep it a secret after Friday morning, and so we are good to go,” and off they went to City Hall.
All afternoon family was in and out of the Thomas house. Down in the basement all the grandkids were busy with their secret little Christmas projects, coming up only to tell everyone they could not come downstairs. Grandpa had set out different things for each child to make for Mommy or Daddy, and Grandma was always ready with beautiful wrapping paper as each child completed their special gift. Finally, when every child had their gifts wrapped and labeled, they all marched up the stairs together and placed their presents under the Christmas tree, assured that each present was the very best one under the tree.
By two o’clock all the grandkids were down for naps. They were promised that if they took a nap they could stay up extra late that night and share in the holiday festivities. So by two-thirty the house was finally quiet. Caroline and Gladys made quick work of preparing the dinner before coming into the living room to join Carol Anne, Susan, Lisa, and Hope for some quiet conversation.
Their discussion was casual, unscripted and gracious. No one invaded Hope’s personal space, avoiding any probing questions about Michael or her faith. Hope knew these were very religious people and so fully anticipated being questioned at some point. But instead, Caroline told them about her latest project, a cake decorating class. Carol Anne talked about some of the silly things she and Susan had done as kids and Gladys, being the most proper of southern ladies, shared about her latest victory—growing a beautiful African Violet and getting an honorable mention at the Fall Festival that year.
***
By the time dinner was over and everyone was collecting their coats, Hope found herself actually looking forward to their Christmas Eve service. As a young child, her family had attended church, but around the age of ten, something happened and her mother no longer wished to go, therefore, they didn’t. She never asked, nor was she told, why. They simply stopped going and life went on. Then, in high school, she learned that no reputable scientists believe there is a God, and in college she learned that only weak-minded people have to lean on a crutch called religion.
Climbing into the car next to Lisa, Hope pondered silently, “But these people are not weak-minded people. They aren’t shoving their religion down my throat every chance they get, but they are not apologizing for their faith either. I’m not sure if religion is really a crutch, but it sure has made a difference in Lisa, that is for sure. How else could anyone explain such a big change in a person? Maybe, at least for some people, religion really does work.”
***
Walking out of the Christmas Eve service, Hope whispered to Lisa, “Does your church in Jefferson have a service like this one?”
“Yes, although not nearly as grand as this, but Gladys and I love it,” Lisa said with fondness. “Did you enjoy the service?”
“Honestly, Mom, I really did. I didn’t expect to,” Hope confessed. “I’m not exactly sure what I expected, but certainly nothing as nice as that was.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it, Hope. I know you don’t go to church and I want to respect your right to hold a different view than I have.” Stepping aside to let the others go on out to the cars, Lisa decided this was the time to share her personal feelings about her faith with her daughter. “But, Hope, I did want to show you my world and that must include what you heard tonight in that service. I would not be honest with you if I denied what God did for me when He saved me eleven years ago. Just as the pastor said tonight, ‘God sent His Son, Jesus, into this world, not to condemn people, but to offer them the gift of salvation.’ First, He changed my relationship with Him by forgiving me, and then He started the process of changing my life. My life did not change overnight. It has been a day by day thing. It is not religion, simply following strict rules and behaving in a certain way. I could never have done that. God began to change me from the inside out. He still has a lot more work to do, but I know He loves me because I see what He has already done in my life.”
“I can see your faith is very important to you, Mom. No one could ever deny that something very powerful took place in your life and for that I am very grateful.” Hope turned toward her mom, looked deep into her eyes, as she said, “I’m just not sure it is something that I need right now. Can you accept that and love me anyway?”
“I will always love you, no matter what,” Lisa responded, while sliding her arm around her daughter as they headed out to join the others. “I will never try to force my faith on you, but, I also cannot pretend that I am not a person of faith when I am around you. I have to be true to who I have become because I know what I once was. I was rescued from the absolute pit of hell, and I know who I now am because of what God has done in my life. I can no more deny that truth than I can deny my love for you.” Just as they reached the car, Lisa offered, “So, Hope, you be the real and truthful you, and I promise that I will be the real and truthful me. We will both respect each other and love each other as we are, okay?”
Just before stepping into the car, Hope leaned over and kissed her mom on the cheek, then said, “Okay, Mom, honesty and truth between us.”
Arriving back at the Thomas’ house, the grandkids raced upstairs to get out of their church clothes and into their new Christmas jammies. Every year Grandpa and Grandma Thomas bought all the grandkids new jammies for Christmas Eve and every year the grandkids looked forward to getting into them right after church. They looked forward to sitting on the family room floor, eating Christmas cookies and having hot coco, watching Grandpa’s home movies until they finally fell asleep. The children knew that when they awoke it would be Christmas morning.
After everyone had piled their plates with goodies, and were comfortably seated, adults on sofas and arm chairs, the kids on the floor, Hope and Benny decided to sit on the floor with the little kids. Benny leaned against his dad’s knees, and Hope beside him, leaning against her mom’s knees. When everyone was settled, Grandpa Thomas announced movie night was officially started.
As in previous years, they started with slides of photos of family long gone before Bill Thomas ever received his first Bell & Howell 8mm camera when he was in high school. As each photo came up on the screen, someone would yell out the name of the relative, something special about them, or how they were related. Benny and Hope had a crash course of the family history. They saw pictures of grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and uncles who were just names and faces to them. They saw Gladys and Bill as little kids and Hope said, “Gladys, it is hard to imagine you ever being that little kid.”
“Did you think she arrived fully grown, Hope?” teased Benny.
“You know what I mean, Benny,” Hope laughingly retorted.
Then, as the next photo came up on the screen, Hope was able to recognize a teenage Gladys but did not recognize the older young man in the photo, and innocently asked, “Who is that in the photo with you, Gladys?”
Lisa quickly reached down and placed her hand on Hope’s shoulder and whispered, “I’ll tell you all about him later, Hope.”
Immediately embarrassed at possibly asking an inappropriate question, Hope whispered over her shoulder, “Sorry.”
Noticing Hope’s discomfort, Gladys sweetly offered, “That’s okay, Hope, we have no secrets here. That is Bill’s and my older brother, Charlie.”
Hope saw the gleam in Gladys’s eyes as she said his name, but dared not ask any questions.
“Charlie was our family’s golden boy, our parent’s firstborn son, heir apparent, and Bill’s and my hero,” Gladys quickly cast a loving smile at her younger brother, and continued, “Charlie was a senior in college when I was a senior in high school, and Bill was in eighth grade. Bill and I were convinced that there was nothing our big brother could not do. He was kind, smart, athletic, and he loved us both, didn’t he, Bill?”
“He sure did, Gladys,” Bill said with a smile.
“That picture was taken at Bill’s thirteenth birthday, just a few months before we lost Charlie.” Gladys looked around the room at all the young children sitting and listening to every word, and knew this was not the time, nor the place to give any more details, so she said, “I’ll tell you all about him when the kids are not here, Hope.”
Hope quickly gave a nod of acceptance and Grandpa Thomas continued on to other pictures. Once they had completed the still photos, they moved to the home movies and eventually made their way to the ones that interested Hope and Benny, the ones that included Lisa. At first, they saw a frail woman who refused to smile at the camera. In this movie Lisa sat very close to Gladys, obviously uncomfortable in her own skin. Hope reached up and took hold of Lisa’s hand that was still resting on her shoulder. No words were needed.
The next few Christmas movies were like watching a time-lapsed study of Lisa. Benny and Hope watched as, year after year, before their eyes, Lisa blossomed into a healthy, happy, smiling, person, who was no longer frail, was no longer apologetic for being there, a woman who was obviously loved and accepted in this family. Leaning over to Hope, Benny said, “That is so cool, Hope. It is like watching your mom get better right before our eyes.”
Squeezing her mom’s hand, Hope said, “Benny, you and I just saw what that preacher was talking about tonight at church. God is in the business of changing broken lives, and Lisa is a perfect example of it. No one could deny the change in her. No one.”
Ben quietly leaned over and wiped the tears from Lisa’s face as he gave her a kiss. He knew her heart was full and blessed, hearing her daughter give God credit for her change.