Quite an Undertaking - Devon's Story by Clanton Barbara

Author:Clanton, Barbara [Clanton, Barbara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Coming of Age, Fiction, Lesbian, General
ISBN: 9781935053989
Publisher: Regal Crest Enterprises, LLC
Published: 2009-09-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

A Sucky Day

THANKSGIVING WITHOUT GRANDMA sucked. Uncle Joe sat in Grandma’s usual spot next to Dad, and I couldn’t help thinking that Uncle Joe had just moved up in the family pecking order. Families changed, I realized. Families shifted. Grandmas died. I squeezed my eyes shut at the dinner table, so I wouldn’t cry in front of everybody. I made myself think about Rebecca and holding her pinky on the bus. That helped me keep it together a little.

Jarrod, my cousin, pretty much ignored everybody, and after dinner he sat in the living room with his headphones blasting some kind of heavy metal music. He was in tenth grade at Grasse River, but even though he and I were related, I never hung out with him. Everybody was always amazed when they found out we were cousins. Mom used to make me hang out with him during holidays, but since he was so anti-social, she gave me permission to retreat to my room after I helped clear the table.

I went up to my room and tried not to notice Grandma’s open bedroom door. When I got to my own room, I left the lights off and flung myself on the bed. I hugged Seymour as hard as I could and cried as I remembered Dad’s grace before the meal. He’d started by saying, “Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks, and I would like to thank the Lord for the wonderful life He gave my mother—” He glanced at Uncle Joe and modified his toast. “—our mother. She lived a good life, and we were lucky to be able to call her Mom or Grandma.” When he said “Grandma” that’s when I started crying for real. I think Missy did, too because she wiped at her eyes a couple times. I bowed my head even more and hoped I wouldn’t embarrass myself by having to leave the table or something. I saw my mom rest her hand on Dad’s wrist while he spoke. I thought that was sweet and was glad that we had such a boring normal family that could comfort each other, but I was also incredibly glad when we finally got to say, “Amen.”

We tried to make Thanksgiving seem like every other Thanksgiving, but I for one had a hard time pulling it off. I kept thinking little things about Grandma like how she hated green bean casserole. She always said the mushroom soup ruined perfectly good green beans. Would my mom or dad ever have to live with me or Missy when they got older, like Grandma had to live with us? Would I say grace someday and thank the Lord for the life of my mom or my dad?

I lay on my bed in the dark and tried to convince myself that Grandma was the reason I wanted to go to the cemetery with Rebecca next week. I knew otherwise because having Rebecca to myself was the major reason. Maybe we could hold pinky fingers again, or, hey, maybe we could even go all the way and hold hands.

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