Celebrating the Season, Mourning the Life

Givar, winter, 2001
Matthew is 71, Cassandra is 69, Grex is 29, Ginger is 29, Bryant is 6, Annie is 6

The month started out fairly mundane for the Grey family.



Ginger kept getting bigger with the newest Grey family addition (or additions)


The twins had celebrated thier 6th birthday earlier that year now they're in started first grade and are constantly teased by thier classmates thanks to thier grandmother's handsewn clothing. Grandmother Cassandra figured that life on the farm called for durable clothing and that said clothing should be worn to school as well. Not that clothing made from flimsy fabric that tears easily.


Grandmother Cassandra could never answer little Annie when she asked "Why do you wear clothing of filmsy fabric then grandmother?"


Grex struggled to gather the last of the harvest before the frost arrived. The winter started out fairly temperate, but Grex knew that a frost could kill all his months of hard work. So with the help of the twins, especially little Bryant who loved the feel of the dirt under his fingernails, he harvested all the fruit from the orchard.


The vegetables were not a big rush since thankfully many simyears ago, Grex invested in a greenhouse. Thank goodness, since now he could harvest vegetables regardless of the height of the snow outside. Which meant that he could always have fresh vegetables for the market.


Fruit on the other hand, was packed into crates and promptly sold to the neighboring families. He couldn't wait until the twins got older so he could take them to the family market to help out.


True, it was next door to the farm and they could run over any chance they wished, but at the age of six, they're not much help. Cute, but not much help.


During the holiday season, the market was always busy. Residents wanted fresh produce for Blessed Harvest Day and Christmas. Also, the fresh fish was slowly growing in popularity thanks to the culinary article in the paper about fish being a great alternative to turkey for holiday meals. This year, Grex made sure to slip Jolie Dawson (in the purple) an extra bass in her shopping bag for the welcomed article and boost in sales. Perhaps he should also slip newspaper editor, Li Sweeny (in red) a small fish or discount as well.


At the farm, preparations were in full swing for the Christmas holiday as well. Ginger was placing decor in every nook and corner while the twins bounced happily around admiring everything.


Besides "how will santa come when there's no fireplace?" question from the twins, the other question on the family's mind was when would the little one make its apprearence? Ginger was tired of carrying the blessed burden. Her feet were swollen, back aching and let's not even mention what was going on to her digestive system. Grex guessed that the baby (or babies, let's not forget that Grex and Ginger are both twins as well as Grandmother Cassandra and Bryant and Annie) would come at a surprise time. Most babies do anyway, though they seem to perfer in the middle of the night or right after a bath, so that everyone rushes in the bedroom or bathroom once the cries of labor are heard.


Meanwhile, Grandmother Cassandra and Grandfather Matthew were conspiring for a surprise of thier own.

Grandmother Cassandra helped Ginger with the cooking that evening and in an rare event, the dinner was burned. The family struggled to eat the extra crispy roast chicken, due both to Grandmother Cassandra's forgetfulness and Ginger's increasing need to run to the bathroom every 5 seconds. In the midst of the family's debate of if the twins should have snow boots or regular boots, Grandfather Matthew burst through the door with a shout-"surprise!" and a large skinny tree.


The twins jumped up from the table and even Grex was relieved to have an excuse to stop forcing the charred remains down his throat. However, closer inspection of the tree revealed a small family of chipmunks, so Grandfather Matthew bundled Bryant and Annie in thier winter gear and they hiked off to find another tree.

They quickly returned because Grandfather Matthew was, to be honest, plum tired. So Grex took the twins to the nearest store, picked up an artifical tree with all the trimmings and placed it in the living room. It didn't have that pine forest smell, but it was late and it was on sale.

Unfortunately, you sometimes get what you pay for as the women of the house discovered as they were cleaning the dinner dishes and preparing for the next day.

"Did you burn something else?" Grandmother Cassandra asked, sniffing the air.

"No..."Ginger replied annoyed with her mother and fighting uncomfortable back pains, before glancing in the living room. "The tree!!! The tree is on fire!!!"


Ginger worked to put out the fire, while Grandmother Cassandra clutched her shirt and fretted this way and that way and this way and that way. By the time Grex made it downstairs, the fire was out and the tree only suffered minor damage.


Perhaps it was the trama of a near death experience, or the physical labor of putting out the fire, or perhaps the newest Grey simply wanted to see what all the fuss was about for it was at that moment that Ginger felt the pangs of her first contractions.

"You better call Julio." She whispered through her teeth to her husband, before doubling over in pain. Grex instead ran to Julio Wilsonoff's house, while Grandmother Cassandra helped Ginger change into her birthing clothes. Grandfather Matthew was instructed to sleep in the twins room to make sure they didn't barge in at the wrong time.

After hours of gritting her teeth and squeezing her bed posts in pain, Ginger, with the help of Julio, delivered a healthy baby boy named Gregory. Grex grinned like an idoit at the sight of his newest son and briefly wondered what life would be like if he had ten children instead of his three. Ginger must have read his thoughts as she shot him a nasty glare, "Only if you plan on adopting."

Grandfather Matthew paid Julio his $1000 fee while Grandmother Cassandra cleaned up tiny Gregory. The twins slept through it all and would have to meet thier new little brother in the morning.

What a morning it was! It was Christmas day! Little Gregory's first Christmas, Ginger mused while feeding him a special formula of barley and milk. The twins loved Grandmother Cassandra's handsewn teddy bears, unlike the itchy pajamas she also gave them.


Grex couldn't help but spoil his oldest son with a baseball bat, ball and catcher's mitt, which Bryant promptly decided to try playing in 12 inches of snow.

Grandmother Cassandra's gift was perhaps the best.

"You two go upstairs. I have the baby and the twins."

Ginger smiled shyly at Grex and he took her hand and led her to the bedroom...where they both fell asleep.

Unfortunately, the family's joy quickly turned to sorrow. Early one morning, Grandmother Cassandra crept into baby Gregory's room. Instead of the cooing infant she had come to expect, she found baby Gregory cold and ashen.

The scream echoed throughout the house. Feet pounded the wooden floors, voices were raised, phones were off the hook dialing for help, breaths were being delivered. One-two-breath...another round of chest compressions. Julio, the resident doctor, came in his PJs and one slipper-the other one buried in the snow from his run. It seemed like hours, but only three minutes had passed. One-two-breath...another round of chest compressions.

It happened so quickly, Gregory's funeral was less than two days later.

"It was SIDS...poor family...SIDS?...so sad." echoed softly around the hood. The church was silent, but the thoughts were loud and clear above the noise of the piano.

"Do you think baby Gregory will get married in heaven?" Annie whispered.

"Babies don't get married."

"When he grows up, he will."

"Babies don't grow up in heaven." Bryant whispered back.

"I never thought I would have to bury another grandchild." Grandmother Cassandra whispered bewteen tears.

She thought about her sons, Clark and Astaire, both of them dead too soon. Astaire's death in a bus accident, Clark and his wife and her three grandchildren...victims of the great disaster. Thier wives and her three grandchildren all dead. Now a fourth grandchild is added to the list in heaven.

"No parent in the world should have to feel this." Grex mumbled to himself.

"I know..." his wife sighed in agreement.

The memorial service was quick at the request of the family. A simple hymn, a short service and a blessing for the tiny life that was.

After the memorial service, the family took the slow hike to the forest. Jorge told Matthew about a clearing that provided a clear view of the sea. They passed the urn around. Each said thier final goodbyes. The ashes were scattered in the wind. Drifting to sea, drifting to the tree tops, drifting to heaven.

Goodbye, baby Gregory.

---

This is another one of those glitchy things that happen to me. I had to use my old backup of the neighborhood after a recent hack and as a result, baby Gregory wasn't anywhere around. I didn't want to risk having another baby and it looking nothing like baby Gregory, or it being a girl. So, since Gregory was an oopsy on Grex and Ginger's part, we just had baby Gregory meet his end. It was actually pretty sad since the family was actually moping around...it was as if they knew a part of the family was missing. What about you? Any glitches cause a drastic reworking of plans in your hood?