Mom shed a few tears at Dad’s grave. Martin and Sebastian comforted her with their arms wrapped around her. Clare rested her head on my shoulder while holding Jake. He was the innocent one too little to understand, too young to know of the loving man he’d never met long enough to remember. Clare was a beautiful mother though and I knew she’d tell him all about his Grandpa some day.
“Is there anyone else we need to see while we are here, kids?” Mom asked, looking over her shoulder right at Ellen.
“Not today,” Ellen said, shaking her head.
“Are you coming back to the house?” Mom asked me with an eager grin.
“No, I put my bags in the car this morning. I think I’ll leave from here and head back to Memphis if that’s okay.”
“You go ahead if you need to. Call me when you get back to let me know you made it in okay,” she said.
“It’s less than two hours away. You should come back and stay a while,” Martin said with a gentle punch on my shoulder.
“Oh, I’m sure he’s got things to attend to back at his place,” Mom said in my defense.
“Merry Christmas, Mom” I said wrapping my arms around her neck.
I said my good-byes to each of my siblings and Jake. I waved to my other nieces and nephews who had remained in the car keeping warm, enjoying handheld video games Santa had brought. Martin, Ellen, and Sebastian left first. Then, Mom, Clare, and Jake drove away. I stood there for a second admiring the bright morning sun sparkling across the powdery snow. When their two cars were out of the gate and down the road out of sight, I turned and walked back to my own car.
Back down Highway 55, I pulled into Four Points Grocery for a cold drink. I was shocked to find the glass door locked. I stuck my face up to the glass, but did not see Mr. Greer inside. The butcher counter was clean; the small convenience store was dark. A sign in the window indicated he was not open today: CLOSED FOR CHRISTMAS, REMEMBER THE REASON FOR THE SEASON.
I sat in the idling car for a moment to contemplate the two directions I could take from here. One was a boring stretch of highway that led back to my lonely apartment in the city, and the other was just a few blocks away leading home.
I chose home.