The ladies of our church had well decorated the fellowship hall for our annual Christmas party. Resplendently adorned with green and red ornaments; gold and silver tinsel, an enormous Christmas tree stood at one end of the spacious hall. Stolid statues in a manger scene, with Mary holding baby Jesus while Joseph, sheperds, and sheep looked on, lent an air of purity and holiness to this festive occasion.
Every year, each child got a small present from the church. Pastor Hadley played Santa Claus, calling out the children's names and handing out the presents. Every child crowded around the tree eagerly waiting for his or her name to be called.
I hopped from one foot to the other with excitement.
"Joey Harper," Pastor Hadley finally called, waving my green-wrapped present above his head and looking around as if he hadn't seen me.
"Here I am," I hollered.
"Oh, there you are." Pastor Hadley grinned. "I might have known that you would be right up front."
He handed my present to me. I plopped to the floor right there and ripped it open at once. It was a shiny blue yo-yo. Oh no, I thought, a little disappointed. I'm not very good with one of these things. I stood and slipped the loop at the end of the string onto the middle finger of my right hand. I flipped the yo-yo toward the floor, but instead of spinning and coming back to my hand, it merely flopped around at the end of the string.
Pastor Hadley noticed my problem. "Here," he said, "let me show you how to do that." He slipped the loop onto his finger and wound up the string. Then, he quickly spun the yo-yo, making it barely touch the hardwood floor. The toy creeped away from him across the floor. "That's called walking the dog," he informed me. Then, with a bare twitch of his middle finger, the yo-yo jumped back into his hand.
Pastor Hadley put the toy back into my hand and gently rubbed my head. "Practice, Joey," he instructed. "You have to practice every day."
After a scrumptious buffet dinner supplied by covered dishes brought by most of the ladies, Pastor Hadley stood before the Christmas tree and held up his hands to draw attention. "Can I have everyone's attention?" he announced. "Bess, come here please."
My mother nudged through the crowd and to Pastor Hadley's side. They each put an arm around each other's back. They gazed at each other with sparkling eyes.
"Bess and I have decided to make this announcement at this party," Pastor Hadley excitedly exclaimed. "Thanks to what we believe to be the will of God, we plan to get married in June."
This did not really surprise me since I had seen Pastor Hadley come to our house almost every day since Thanksgiving.
For a moment, the crowd tittered. Then, everyone broke into smiles and began to shake Pastor Hadley's hand, congratulating him. Most of the ladies hugged my mother.
Everyone seemed to be happy except my other mother. She was my mother's mother, but instead of Grandmother, she insisted I call her Other Mother. She caught my mother by the arm at a moment when she was standing alone. "I would like to speak with you alone," Other Mother whispered through clenched teeth.
"Drop by the house later," Mom answered, moving away to talk to some of the ladies.
Later that evening, Mother sat in her favorite chair in the living room, knitting, and talking with Pastor Hadley while we children; my cousin Darlene, my sister Sarah and I, sat cross-legged on the floor playing Chinese checkers.
I was glad to see my Mom feeling so content. She had been sad for a long time after my Dad had not come home from the war.
Suddenly, the front door swung open and, unannounced, Other Mother stomped into the room. While holding her lips firmly pressed together, she quickly began to jerk off her white gloves, one finger at a time. "I would like to know," she spat, "how you two could embarras me the way you did."
"What do you mean, Mother dear?" Mom rejoined.
Other Mother's narrowed eyes widened a little with pretended shock. "You know perfectly well what I mean," she thundered. "How can you two get married? It's scandalous."
"Everyone seemed to be happy about it," Pastor Hadley replied.
"They put on a good front," Other Mother snapped. "They were actually quite shocked. For heaven's sake Bess, you're nine years older than him."
"So, I like younger men," Mom replied, suppressing an impish grin.
"Bess!" Other Mother exploded. She gazed upward in mock prayer. She closed her eyes and bit her lip. "Lord, help me," she gasped. She crossed her arms and stared at Mom. "Well, I just talked to Sister Hitchcock on the phone, and she agrees with me."
"That toady," Pastor Hadley replied, laughing. "She's never been known to disagree with you about anything."
"All right," Other Mother sighed. She wiped an invisible tear from the corner of one eye. "A mother can only try to do her duty, but if you two insist on going through with this travesty, I won't be coming to the wedding."
"Suit yourself," Mother retorted, this time with a look of boredom.
Other Mother slowly began to pull her gloves on. "I've done all that a mother can do," she moaned. She trudged toward the door, glanced back and slightly shook her head. She slipped through the door and quietly closed it behind her.
Pastor Hadley sipped his coffee and then peeked at Mom. He chuckled.
Mom looked back at him over her knitting and smiled.
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