click to read chapter one
Mom and I spent the rest of the afternoon making phone calls, planning and then buying everything we needed. Everyone who heard my idea loved it and wanted to be a part of it, and the more people who got involved, the bigger the idea became. We decided to have as many people who were willing to meet at our house at 10:00 am. This was going to take some work and definitely some time. I hoped and prayed that I could make all this actually happen. My mom and I were exhausted by the time we headed for bed at midnight. Although we were tired, we were really looking forward to tomorrow. I had forgotten how fun it was to work on a project with Mom. We made a good team.
My alarm went off early the next morning. There were still some details I had to attend to before everyone came. Mom let me know that a few more people had texted her this morning to say they could help. When 10:00 came, car after car pulled up into our driveway and in front of our house. People got out of their cars with boxes and bags of things they thought we could use. I was amazed at how generous everyone was. Some people even gave my mom money to help cover the cost. We were a small army of about 35 adults, teens, and kids with a big job a head of us. I showed everyone the picture Mom and I had drawn so everyone understood what exactly we needed to do. Throughout the day, more and more people stopped by to help bringing even more supplies. By the time 4:00 rolled around we were all exhausted, excited, and completely done. This had turned out even better than I had imagined.
"Remember we need everyone to be at the Deckers by 7:30. Make sure you park down the street and wait in your cars until I text you that the coast is clear. " I walked over to my good friend Joe and said, "You know what to do right? Have everything ready for 7:15." Those were my final instructions before everyone left. Mom and I both needed to take showers and get ready because right now we both looked a little scary.
Mom and I were dressed and ready to go by 5:30. Mom carefully arranged an assortment of her Christmas cookies on her favorite crystal platter.
"That looks good, Mom."
"Thanks. Did you find those blankets we talked about?"
"Yes and I have the basket ready, too."
"I can't believe we are actually pulling this off."
"I know, right? I just hope Mr. Decker likes it."
"Why wouldn't he? It turned out amazing!" Mom fussed with the cookies a little more and then grabbed a bottle of wine. She looked at me with a big smile and said, "So are you ready to go have some fun?"
"Let's do it!"
We pulled into the Decker's driveway a little before six. "I hope we're not too early, Mom."
"Were fine. We don't want to be fashionably late tonight."
I grabbed the tray of cookies and the wine and Mom grabbed her leather bag with the blankets in it. We rang the doorbell and Mrs. Decker almost instantly answered it.
"Hi, come on in," said Mrs. Decker. "Oh, those cookies look fantastic! Here, let me take that tray from you. Go ahead and leave your coats on that chair," Mrs. Decker said as she pointed to a very formal Queen Ann chair. We removed our coats and followed her into the kitchen. Mr. Decker was sitting with Father Jerry at the kitchen island as we walked in. I hadn't seen Mr. Decker since early summer. He looked like he had lost a lot of weight and appeared a little frail in his now oversized cardigan.
"Eric, Ann Marie it's good to see you both," said Mr. Decker with a smile. "Come on in and help us eat these appetizers Jerry made. You know before he came to visit I had no idea he could cook."
Father Jerry chuckled and said, "Well I don't have a wife to feed me. I had to either learn how to cook or starve."
"So how was your first semester at Michigan Tech, Eric?" Mr. Decker asked.
"It was good. My roommate and I get along really well and we are both in the computer engineering program and have similar classes. He is actually really smart and has helped me out a lot."
"Did Jerry tell you we had a good friend that went to Tech?"
"No, not exactly. He did seem familiar with Tech though."
"He should be. How many times did we go up there, Jerry? Mom and Dad wouldn't let me drive up there by myself so I always had to bring my little brother with me. That was probably their way of making sure I didn't get into any trouble."
"Oh, if I remember correctly, you got into plenty of trouble. I always prayed mom wouldn't ask too many questions when we got home," laughed Father Jerry.
"See, I'm probably the reason you became a priest-I got you into the habit of praying," said Mr. Decker with a smile. "You know Jerry wasn't always Friar Tuck, he used to be a lot of fun."
"Hey, I'm still a lot of fun," said Father Jerry. "And don't make fun of my outfit, I've been told that brown is the new black."
My mom and I started laughing. It was funny to hear these two brothers tease each other. Conversation continued to be entertaining right into dinner. I offered to help Father Jerry get dinner on the table as the Deckers and my mom continued to talk.
Quietly Father Jerry said, "Eric, I really want to thank you for coming over. Charles was almost a little jealous when I said that you had invited me to lunch, but then he actually got excited when I said you and your mom wanted to come over for dinner. He hasn't joked around like this since I've been here. It's nice to see him smile like that again. I think he enjoyed remembering his college days."
"I have to admit, the two of you are pretty entertaining."
Dinner was delicious. Father Jerry really was a good cook, his lasagna was fantastic. As we finished dinner I took a quick glance at my watch-7:00, we were right on schedule. My mom and I offered to clear the dishes from the table keeping an eye on the time as we did so.
Father Jerry caught me checking my watch at 7:15 and followed me to the sink. "Eric did you need to be somewhere? I don't want you to feel you have to stay here all night."
"No, I've got no where to go. This is exactly where I want to be tonight." I said with a smile. Just then the doorbell rang.
"Who could that be?" asked Mr. Decker.
click here to read chapter twelve
