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The little girl and her father waited impatiently on the steps of the "Home for Senior Citizens" where Grandpa lived.
Grandma had died a few years ago, and Grandpa finally got to the point where he couldn't care for the old homestead anymore (which he gave to his son) or care for himself properly, so the family decided the Senior Home was the best place for him to spend his remaining years.
Finally, the door slowly opened and there stood Grandpa, a shadow of his former self.
He was dressed in old clothes much too large for his thin, aging body, and he carried a cane.
His tired blue eyes filled with tears and his mouth quivered with joy when he saw his tall, handsome son, a replica of himself so many years ago, and his pretty, little brown-eyed granddaughter waiting for him.
Immediately she threw her arms warmly around him and kissed him on his bearded cheek.
For it was she who insisted that Grandpa be included in the traditional Christmas family reunion festivities.
And so, over strong objections of her mother (who insisted Grandpa would be happier eating with his old cronies at the Senior Home), she and her Dad were there to pick up Grandpa and would return him again in a few hours.
Sitting in a big easy chair by the warm fireplace once again in the home he had lived in for so many years was indeed a rare treat for Grandpa. The family gathered there had grown so large he hardly knew half of them. And since he had become slightly deaf, many didn't try to converse with him because it involved too much undignified loud talking.
It never occurred to many of them that if it hadn't been for little old Grandpa, they wouldn't even bet here.
Slipping into the kitchen to make Grandpa his favorite cup of brew (hot spiced apple cider spiked with a little applejack), his little granddaughter noticed the kitchen table was set with a plate, soup bowl, knife, fork, and spoon.
"Who's going to eat out here?" she asked her mother, who was busy with last-minute dinner preparations.
"Grandpa is going to eat out here in the kitchen", her Mother answered.
"But why must Grandpa eat out here all alone?" said the little girl, nearly in tears.
"Because Grandpa makes a noise when he eats his soup, and sometimes it runs down his chin and he forgets to wipe it off," said her mother, becoming irritated. "Furthermore, he often spills his food off his fork, and he might drop some on my new linen tablecloth and make a stain. And why do you ask so many questions" asked the Mother.
"I just wanted to know how I should treat you and Dad when you grow older," the little girl replied.
A little later, after some quick re-arranging of seating arrangements by Grandpa's daughter-in-law, Grandpa found himself seated at the head of the table where he thoroughly enjoyed his Christmas dinner with his family.
Editor's Note: Author won $75.00 as first
prize when this story was published in "Leisure World News",
1983.