A Carafe of Wine

She was the hub of Christmas time but when she got sick, the world they knew fell apart The empty freezer hummed void of cookies and tarts, as the old tree lay in the shed undecorated and bare. In the lobby the doctor gathered her offspring and gave them the sad news. "Your mom has cancer. She only has a few weeks to live." Dust to dust, soon she would be free her last words, "Don't forget to decorate the tree" Tears were kept in check hands were linked and souls regrouped. Only one broke the silence with a verbal vow. "We are going to remember her, simply" On the first Christmas without her they gathered by the old oak table with a carafe of white wine and a home made apple pie to die for. Ida who had been nicknamed Idaho Potato peeled the plastic wrap off the pie just like mom would do* It was Christmas, mother had taught them about wine reduction winks and Xmas slips There in the center of the table was a puny tree holding up a Victorian ornament. The one mom had inherited from her mother, back in 1952; No throngs of gifts this year only her voice humming in their sternums keep it simple girls, keep it simple. The End. Dec. 18, 2018