An Advent Calendar - 25. Encore - A Christmas Visit

A Christmas Visit

Valkyrie

“Mom, I need your help,” I said, cradling my cell phone to my ear.

“Why? What’s wrong?” She was always quick to assume the worst.

“Nothing. I have some friends coming to visit, and I need help getting the house ready.”

“Oh? Who’s coming? Marie and Ben?” she asked, referring to my best friend and her son.

“No, they’re celebrating with family. It’s a couple of people I met online.” I braced myself for the upcoming lecture.

“Online? Are you sure that’s such a good idea? You don’t really know these people.”

“I met Cole and Randy this summer. I told you about them. Addy is from Germany and just as good a friend. I trust them completely.”

“I’ll help, but for the record, I don’t approve. I want to meet them.”

“Oh my god, Mom! I’m forty-five! I don’t need you to approve my friends!” I rolled my eyes. I’d been dreading this conversation ever since I made plans with my GA friends to spend the holiday together. “Gotta go. Let’s plan on working on the house this weekend.”

“Well, OK… that’ll be fine. We’ll talk more then. Love you!”

“You too. Bye.” I disconnected the call and exhaled heavily. My mom was a great person, but very nosy. I needed help in order to get my house guest-ready, and the third degree was part of the price I’d have to pay.

My heart swelled with emotion when I remembered the reason for my call. Ever since we worked on completing the GA Advent Calendar, my friendship with both men had deepened. While Cole and I already had a close friendship, which was solidified by meeting over the summer, I was looking forward to getting to know the enigmatic Aditus better.

Cole told me that when we met, it felt like two old friends reuniting instead of new friends meeting for the first time. He said it was because we knew each other so well through our writing, and I agreed. A pleasant surprise during my summer visit had been getting to know Randy as well. It turned out that I had a lot in common with my friend’s husband, and I considered him just as good a friend as Cole. I was excited to see them both again.

Although I had interacted with Adi a bit before this project, this year we worked more closely as reciprocal beta readers, and frequently collaborated with Cole to complete our anthology and calendar stories, which helped me get to know him even better. Where Cole had shared pictures of himself, added me as a friend on Facebook, and we had met in person, Adi was more of a mystery—a private person slow to share personal information. The only information I had about how to recognize him when I picked him up at the airport was to look for the “tall guy wearing a Santa hat”.

We all have preconceived notions about people, especially if we haven’t met. Adi is quirky, funny, impulsive, and a joy to work with. I’ve always imagined that his inner beauty shines through to the outside. I was looking forward to finding out.

The next few weeks were a whirlwind of cleaning, decorating, and shopping. The cats regarded the whole process with suspicion, although they enjoyed knocking the Christmas tree over on a regular basis. I hung lights in the bay window, stockings on the upstairs bannister, and placed tchotchkes all over the house. I went grocery shopping a few days before Adi was due to arrive, buying ingredients to make prime rib, Brussels sprouts, mashed cauliflower, salad, and dinner rolls (the same menu from “The Gingerbread House”). I also planned on making the maultaschen recipe from Adi’s “Que Sera Sera” story for our vegetarian friend. My special treat for everyone would be honey molasses cookies and cheesecake from The Cheesecake Place—it has the best cheesecake in the area.

I also planned on showing my dear guests the major sights in the area and treating them to local food specialties. A trip to frozen Niagara Falls was in the works, along with a meal at the Anchor Bar—birthplace of the chicken wing. All weather-depending, of course. I imagined we’d spend a lot of time sitting around the table chatting, so I made sure I had plenty of snacks on hand, along with mulled wine and cider, and hot, spiced cocoa.

On Christmas Eve, I checked Adi’s flight status and the weather report on an obsessive-compulsive basis. I also checked in with Cole and Randy, crossing my fingers that their drive along the lake would be uneventful. Thankfully, the weather held and, after putting Adi’s Christmas present in the car, I headed out the airport to greet my friend.

The airport was crowded due to the holiday, but I had left in plenty of time to find a parking spot and wait at the baggage claim with his gift. Looking over the crowd of waiting travelers, I discovered a major flaw in the method used for me to recognize him. It was Christmas Eve and there were many people wearing Santa hats.

After the conveyor belt started, moving luggage around in a circle for people to grab, the crowd started to thin out, making it easier to scan for a tall man in a Santa hat. I made eye contact with a tall black-haired man. “Adi?” I asked. The man looked at me blankly and walked on without responding. I turned bright red and shrugged my shoulders, wondering how many more times I’d make that mistake.

“Lisa?!” I heard an accented voice above the din of the crowd. My companion was engulfed in a big hug and spun around in a circle, the man’s Santa hat fell to the floor.

“Merry Christmas, Adi,” I said, grinning. “I figured I’d bring your Christmas present with me, since I didn’t think you’d want to wait.” I was embraced next.

“Danke schoen, Val,” he said. “You really surprised me!” He laughed and looked at Lisa. “No wonder you told me you already had plans!”

“I couldn’t agree fast enough when Val told me her idea,” she replied.

“C’mon,” I said. “Let’s head to my house and we can chat. Cole and Randy arrive tomorrow mid-morning.”

We walked out of the airport arm-in-arm, eager to start our holiday visit.

Aditus

I threw my bag into the backseat of the cab first, and then climbed behind. “Totheairportplease.”

The driver turned around. “What was that?”

I burnt my tongue on the too hot coffee I drank too fast because I was too late. Yeah, way too many toos. Too early for me to function properly, too. I cleared my throat and consciously tried to use the hurting thing in my mouth correctly. “To the airport please.”

While I watched my house vanish behind me, I wished for some ice cream or at least some ice chips to numb the pain in my mouth. Still, this couldn’t deter me from my excitement. In around seventeen hours I would see my online friend Val. And tomorrow my other online friend Cole and his husband Randy. Wow! I really did it.

My family was a little miffed when I spontaneously decided to spend Christmas away from home. They even tried to warn me that I didn’t know any of the people I was going to meet, and therefore didn’t know what to expect.

Ha! I knew exactly what was awaiting me: A very nice room in the attic of Val’s Gingerbread House, lots of awesome food, and finally seeing my friends for the very first time. I could hardly wait.

At the airport, I rushed to the check in. I was sure they had already called my name, and the guy at the counter confirmed it.

Next security check. As always, I forgot to put all my metallic stuff in the little baskets to be screened by the grumpy custom lady, which meant the alarm went off when I went through the scanner and I ended up getting frisked. At least the guy was hot this time.

I had to collect the content of three baskets—yes I needed three tries until I could continue to my gate—I was ready for another coffee. But that had to wait. The flight attendant snatched the board card from my hands as soon as I came close to the entrance of the plane, and personally guided me to my seat. I stuffed my bag into the storage compartment, then folded myself in the contraption they call a chair.

“Ouch!” Damn it. Rubbing my throbbing kneecap, I remembered exactly why I didn’t like flying. But this was so worth all the hassle, because I got to see Val and Cole and later maybe Lisa. Only she didn’t know yet; I planned it to be a surprise. I thought about asking Val if we could invite Lisa too, but she was busy. Maybe I could see her on New Year.

First stop, London. A quick coffee and then off to Philadelphia.

At least I was lucky and snatched an aisle seat. While everyone around me had blankets and pillows and was getting ready to sleep for a little, I fumbled for my e-book reader, phone, and earbuds. No sleep for me in the next eight hours, I just can’t do that in public.

Instead of reading, I ended up staring at the endless clouds, trying to imagine our meeting. I was really nervous. We clicked so well talking and interacting online, got closer still while working on the calendar stories, but how would this work in real life? And then there was Cole’s husband, an unknown entity... Wait! Did I just think that? I sounded like my family back home. Deep inside I knew it was going to be great.

Val sent me pictures of her house, and I was so curious to see it for real. She was making a big secret of what she had planned for us, but to be honest, I was looking forward to talking to her and Cole the most.

While I watched the monitor that showed our altitude and flying speed, I tried to imagine how Val looked. Somehow, I was sure she had dark hair, at least not blond. Next, I thought about the whole English thing. Would I be able to understand them? Would my accent sound terrible? I knew I was being an idiot though, they wouldn’t care. Finally, I grabbed my e-book reader to distract me from more silly thoughts. All would be good.

I spent a little over two hours at Philadelphia International Airport. That meant customs, trying to stay off the no fly list for talking before thinking, food, more coffee, and testing if people understood what I was saying.

Everything went amazingly well, but I was too nervous about missing my plane to explore and ended up being early at my gate, not my usual MO.

I don’t know how many times I checked if my Santa hat was still in my bag. And I realized I’d been an idiot. I should have sent Val a picture of me and demanded one in return. Back then I just thought, it was more of a surprise, more exciting to guess who of the many people waiting to pick up their friends and family could be her. But what if I couldn’t find her? It’s the Holidays; there would probably be tons of people running around. Maybe I could sing Oh, Tannenbaum. That would get her attention.

Well, it was too late for regrets. As soon as the door opened, I grabbed my bag, made my way outside, where I put on my Santa hat and a smile on my face, and hoped for the best.

I followed the passengers in front of me, because I didn’t know where to go, then suddenly another door opened and...Wow! So many people! I would never find her.

I adjusted my glasses and scanned all those faces. There! Nah. Maybe her. No, she was waving at the elderly women on my left. Damn. Maybe her, with the auburn hair, beside the other woman...Wait! Wait! Is that...?

I ran as fast as I could. I even pushed some people away. “Lisa!!! Oh my God! Is that really you?”

When she grinned at me, I knew it was her! Without thinking about it, I wrapped her into my arms and swirled her around. Best surprise ever!

Cole Matthews

“So, do you think the whole Advent calendar thing was worth it?” the iron gray-haired man driving the Cherokee Sport asked. I considered as I looked as his wavy locks of hair delicately brushing the tops of his shoulder as he looked at me, then back to the road. We were barreling down Interstate 190 past the Canadian/United States border on Christmas morning. Last night we had a cozy night in Hamilton, Ontario with some friends. Terry had made oyster stew knowing it was one of my favorites. Ran had been a good sport trying it, but ultimately munched happily on the nachos Terry’s boyfriend Harry had made for our visit.

“The Advent Calendar wasn’t just about us,” I finally answered him. “It was about connecting with others in the group and giving prompts to other members to share their holiday memories. We had a lot of that. Sometimes people would say things in their reviews of our stories and sometimes in the discussion thread.”

Ran didn’t answer at first. He was carefully contemplating my answer. I could tell, he didn’t really buy what I was saying. Instead, he was analyzing as he always did picking out the flaws in my response. It was at times like this I loved him even more and liked feeding him things just to hear his opinion.

We had just crossed the Canadian border in the United States and what surprised me was the amount of water everywhere. We crossed the Niagara River once, then drove past another large lake and we now crossed over a river again. It seemed like ever since we’d left Ran’s brother’s house in Michigan, we’d been driving along some body of water. For the first time in my life, I laid eyes on Lake Huron and Lake Ontario and we crossed so many rivers as well. One of the bridges was called the ‘Rainbow Bridge,’ which seemed appropriate enough.

Water, white, frozen, and immobile, yet beneath the cold, flat surface I knew there was both life and fluidity. I think there was a lesson in there, somewhere, maybe.

“There’s more to it than you are admitting,” Ran finally said, his eyes flitting over to me. “You didn’t spend that much time and say all those personal things for some kind of cathartic moment. I don’t buy that.”

I had the answer ready for him. I didn’t want him to know it though. One of the things my husband wouldn’t accept was a quick, off-the-cuff reply to his question. He’d take it as false. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust me. Ran knew me well, too well. He knew I’d have thought about it and needed to carefully craft my words or it wouldn’t be complete. So, I did so deliberately.

After passing over another frozen, white ribbon of the Niagara River, I said, “Do you remember when Val came to visit and I said it felt like we knew each other for years?”

“I do,” he said quickly.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek for a moment thinking. “We knew each other so well because of all we’d shared with each other. It wasn’t the details of our lives that mattered, but the stories and feelings about the past that gave us a kind of history. I think for me giving readers these memories, ideas, and emotions from the heart gave them an intimate peek into me.”

We were stopped at the intersection of three roads. Ran turned on the directions on his iPhone and we were instructed to turn onto Colvin Boulevard. When the light turned, we drove onto the last leg of our journey.

On the radio, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen came on. It seemed fitting.

Ran finally said, “So you wanted to give readers the gift of yourselves?”

“Perhaps, that’s what I did. I’m not sure I intended to do so quite as much as I did. But, as I was writing memories and stories and thoughts, I guess I revealed much of myself. I think Adi and Val did so as well.”

“You tried to make a connection as intimate as you shared with Val, is that what you mean?”

“I think so. Each of the vignettes and stories I wrote exposed another little part of me.”

Ran started humming to the song on the radio. ‘Comfort and joy’ did seem like a gift we could all use. As we rode together down the road, I felt more at peace than earlier. I had been nervous, not meeting Val, but in meeting Adi for the first time. Would we be as comfortable as it was with Val? How would we communicate with one another? The idea of our meeting was so unnerving early this morning, but now it seemed less stressful. It was because of our conversation about why we did this Advent Calendar. Somehow, Ran and I exchanging a few words had changed my feelings about meeting Adi for the first time. From our discussion it was clear, that was wrong. It wasn’t the first time, not really.

I knew Adi.

I knew all about how Adi reacted to things. How much joy he had and how much concern he had about others he cared about. I knew he cared for me and Val. We were friends and the fact we had never physically been near was irrelevant. We knew each other and took care of each other with our most intimate thoughts. We shared our hopes and our concerns, our thoughts and our dreams.

What’s more, Adi knew me. He knew how I reacted to things and how much I care for him.

“We’re here,” Ran said as we pulled up to an adorable little house. It was draped in Christmas snow and glowed with warmth and light. Inside were friends of mine. People I loved and who loved me.

We were spending Christmas morning with people who knew me well.

“Ready?” Ran asked, smiling his slightly crooked grin at me. He put his hand on my arm. “Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas,” I answered, leaning in and kissing him quickly. “Let’s go in.”

“Okay.”

We got out of the SUV and grabbed the bag from the back seat. Val was making dinner, but she agreed we could make an appetizer. Given Adi was a vegetarian who was chronically addicted to cheese and Val adored it as well, I decided on cheese fondue to share. I’d purchased the Gruyere and Emmental cheeses, some nice white wine, a couple of breads, apples, crackers, grapes, and even some olives to dip. It wouldn’t take long to make the cheesy goodness for us to share.

Ran had a small bag with a few gifts. I made some pressed flower cards and we had found a few little treasures to share with Adi and Val. Knowing Val, I also had an extra gift knowing she’d probably have a surprise in store.

The front walk was shoveled, though the delicate crunch of the snow and ice was like music in my ears.

The delicate doorbell ding made me smile. Ran looked over, touched my arm, and nodded encouragement.

“I’m excited,” I whispered.

“This is fun,” he answered.

The door opened and there was Val. She was beaming. Behind her was a tall man in a red Santa hat. He, too, was grinning and practically vibrating with excitement. Next to him was another woman who I didn’t recognize at first, but then it came to me. It was Lisa. This was Val’s surprise.

“Come in,” Val said, rushing forward and gathering me in her arms. We hugged and it felt good.

This was going to be a very, Merry Christmas indeed.