A Gift from 'The Attic'

‘We got a pair of silk stockings for Aunt Dolores, last Christmas…right mom!’ said Grace to her mom while wrapping up her final project for school on ‘Family Ties’.

‘Yes, honey.’ replied a tired Betty, as she was spreading her daughter’s favorite strawberry jam on the bagel for breakfast.

‘I have an idea!’ said Betty as she arrived with the breakfast platter, standing beside Grace. Taking a closer look, Betty shared that some pictures might add uniqueness to the project.

‘That’d be fantastic, mom!’ replied Grace, as she sped up toward the attic, which was more a storage for the family.

‘Right there.’ said Grace to herself with the expression of discovering something no one had ever accomplished.

At first, the dusty look was not quite encouraging for the sophomore. However, the philosophy of ‘Make your mission your vision’, was enough for her to clean the album and return its gorgeous heirloom look. Moreover with grandma surviving cancer, this Christmas is special to the Wilson family. In fact, Grandma Nancy has been her buddy ever since she was able to walk and talk. Whether be it watching movie and secretly bringing grandma’s favorite caramel popcorns despite doctor’s prescriptions against it, or going for shopping or even just reading a favorite book together, Grandma Nancy and Grace had been living like two peas of the same pod.

‘Your bagel is sitting on your table.’ Betty’s loud voice was enough to break the silence Grace was relishing so long, and the reminder continued as Betty added, ‘It’s 10 o’ clock, almost time for lunch! Are you coming down?’

A deep breath further pervaded the silence, as Grace looked down, assuring, ‘on my way, mom’, as if she was taking her steps right that second.

As she was getting ready to climb down, carefully wrapping the album within her arms, a sudden noise prevented her from returning back.

‘Oh! It feels so soft and warm!’ said Grace as she was putting the leather jacket on, and was proudly wearing a ‘royal’ smile.

 ‘Happy birthday, Princess!’, the note was still there. After all, how can it go away! It was a gift from Grandma Nancy to Grace on her sixteenth birthday.

A surprising look filled Grace’s eyes, as she slid her hands inside the pockets. ‘Hmm, it seems like a ring.’ commented Grace. ‘Who on earth would give me a ring?’ Grace giggled as she was still fighting with the sense of suspense for the object that touched her hands inside the pocket.

‘Huh!’ was all Grace could utter, as she was looking at the object with wonder letting her long slender fingers wipe the surface. She held it close to her heart, kissing it several times. A sense of accomplishment seemed to fill the air of the attic. The floor seemed to transform into a ‘royal throne’ or a ‘grand mine’, as Grace touched her cheeks with the object seemingly kissing her cold cheeks. Her round eyes got even bigger as she was staring at the object with awe in her eyes, affection in her touch as she was letting her fingers slide around the pictures.

‘I still remember you were turning 70, grandma.’, tears rolled down her cheeks as she was talking to herself, holding the piece of wonder close to her heart, saying, ‘We went for this sea lion show in our Panama City, and how scared were you kissing the sea lion!’Grace giggled again, as if grandma was sitting right beside her. ‘So I agreed to join you, and we kissed the sea lion together who was interestingly a male! Remember, grandma, you were jealous of the sea lion being kissed by two gorgeous ladies! Ha ha ha ha…’ the laughter sounded like Christmas bells in the attic, as Grace was giggling like a two year old.

‘Grace!’ This time the call was enough for Grace to respond immediately.

‘Yes mom!’ responded Grace with a serious sense of ‘repent’, as she held the object tightly in her hands and with the leather jacket on her body.

‘What are you doing up in the attic, my sweetie pie?’

‘Hmm’ said Grace to herself, adding, ‘When did mom’s voice turn to be so melodious!’

‘Are you coming down?’ said the voice, adding, ‘or are you letting my old legs climb up?’

‘Huh!’ exclaimed Grace, as she shouted with glee, running down and shouting, ‘Grandma Nancy! When did you arrive?’

‘Well, I said that I’ll be back not until the 24th to secretly check on how you’re doing in my absence.’ chuckled grandma as she was taking her final bite on Grace’s strawberry jam bagel. ‘And this is what I find! Your bagel has been sitting on the table. Was it waiting for me to finish?’ added grandma.

The sight of grandma arriving way before Christmas was unbelievable to Grace. Someone seemed to steal her voice, as she struggled to come up with an explanation, ‘Grandma, I’m working on something for us, the Wilson's! Guess what! It’s my final project! You’ve no idea how excited I am!’ Her eyes were closed as if she has just attained ‘enlightenment’, until grandma’s voice forced her to unveil the brown eyeballs.

‘It’s not even that cold that you’ve to put on this leather thingy!’ said grandma in a rather tongue-in-cheek tone. ‘And what is this…’ grandma was about to say something, and had to stop as Grace interrupted, loosening her hands and held the object she just found.

At first grandma was not able to understand what was going on, as her trip to her best friend living in Pennsylvania was pretty tiring owing to the long flight. Her eyes were enough as indicators for Grace to understand that she was ready for a nap. However, the recent ‘discovery’ seemed to overtake the realization.

‘Do you remember this, grandma?’ shouted Grace, as her excited loud voice ‘invited’ her mom to the spot.

This time, grandma was silently scrutinizing the object as she touched and flipped and then looked up at Grace with her mouth wide open and awestruck look in her dark eyes.

‘Yes, yes, grandma!’ nodded Grace as she added, ‘It is that key ring we made at the show at Panama City. Look how funny you were looking as you didn’t want to kiss that slimy guy. Remember this golden border? We decided to go golden in honor of yours and grandpa’s 50th marriage anniversary!’