Judy Christenberry - Finding A Family

“You mean the best meal I’ve had since Mom died, don’t you, Dad?” Hank gulped down the lump he felt growing in his throat.

Grief over the loss of his mother took him by surprise. He knew his father was having difficulty with his mother’s death, but he’d been fine. He’d kept busy. It was Dad who—he backed from the room, not even able to face his own thoughts, much less the consternation on the faces of the other people in the room.

No one spoke for several minutes. Then Larry said, “He’s really tired. Didn’t get much sleep, you know.”

“Of course,” Maggie said.

“I’d better go talk to him,” Carl said, looking older almost within seconds.

Maggie reached out a hand to catch his. “No, Carl, I think it will be better to talk to him about it tomorrow morning. We have to respect Hank’s grief.” Carl nodded in agreement and returned to the table and sat down.

“Do you remember that first night, when you talked about Linda? The words tumbled out of you as if they’d been blocked inside you for months. Has Hank ever talked like that about his mom since she passed?”

Carl slowly shook his head, a frown on his face.

“I think the best thing you can do is give him some space…And besides, just because you’re happy with me doesn’t mean Hank is. Perhaps it will be best if Timmy and I leave.”

“No, Maggie, I’ll insist—”

“But that doesn’t work, Carl. Didn’t Hank insist that you stop mourning your wife and be happy?”

“Yeah, he did,” Carl said slowly.

More softly, she asked, “Did it work?”

Carl stared at the floor. “You know it didn’t.”

Maggie patted Carl’s shoulder. “It isn’t your fault, Carl.”

“I guess you’re right,” he conceded. “Which gets me to thinking. If you helped me to open up about my feelings maybe you could do the same for Hank.”

The old man’s expression brightened with the thought that he might just have hit upon a compelling reason to persuade Maggie to stay.

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