Rattling Cages: Part 9
Christmas day. In any other year, getting out of the house would have been a challenge. When Grandpa Vander Sloot was alive, we always seemed to have one of Mom's brothers' families at our house for Christmas. This year everyone had done their own thing. I suppose we could have gone to visit Dad's family, but we'd visited Grandpa and Grandma Klein in Wyoming last year.
Wyoming is a long drive from Michigan and it doesn't get any better in the winter.
We stayed home.
On Christmas day it turned out to be just the four of us. After we'd opened presents, gone to church, had dinner, and hung around the house for a while, visiting Haley's family cottage sounded like a good idea.
It wasn't terrible to be with my parents, but I've heard that the first Christmas without someone who has died is always the hardest. I don't know if that is really true, but the house did feel empty without him. Even near the end when he seemed to get tired quickly, I could still look over and find him listening. Sometimes he'd smile when he caught me looking.
Around five o'clock, I asked Mom and Dad if they minded if I visited Haley's family. "It's really just a big party for the whole neighborhood or whoever comes," I told them.
Mom and Dad were sitting on the couch in the family room. The TV chattered on unnoticed.
"Haley's your girlfriend," she said. "The granddaughter of Chuck McAllister? From Grandpa's army unit?"
"Right," I said.
The pause before her reply went longer than I expected. She sighed.
"Go ahead," she said.
"It's fine," Dad said.
"I'll drive him." Rachel stood in the doorway between the family room and the kitchen.
"I can drive myself," I said.
"I know," she said, "but I've got people I'd like to see there too."