"4 to 8 inches?!"
Beth wasn't too happy about this. After all, she slaved all week to prepare for the Stillwell clan. All eight of them. She even invited a neighbor who had no where to go. He had no where to go because he hadn't cultivated relationships. More than a bump on a log, this man did nothing all day but smoke, drink and watch tv. It wasn't always this way. Especially in his twenties. But he was quickly approaching seventy.
The rest of the Stillwell clan had worked hard to have nice relationships. Over time they found commonalities among each other. There was never any discussion of differences. They were all too emotionally intelligent to know where this would land them. Then they would have to deal with the fallout from their spouses who dearly cared about family.
Family is like that. There are some no-fly zones. Religion is okay to be discussed but never politically. Two siblings on opposite fences. Then there was the mother who saw both sides. Sides. That is what they were. Beth had no interest...any way shape or form to have anything but harmony. As the only parent, she was more than pleased.
Half of her family had to leave early to avoid the blizzard. The other half had to work the next day. Beth's dogs spent most of the day collapsed on the floor. Children do that to you. And being sequestered away from the family does, too.
Mr. Bump-on-the-log liked Beth. He told her that at the most inappropriate times. Like when she was about to serve a meal to her entire family. Like when they all sat down. Beth thought she had invited a six year old. And she had. But that wasn't the worst of it.
He kept calling her even though he knew her family was in town. That she was winging this whole shabang by herself. Beth didn't invite him because she hadn't invited him into her heart. But what he did that night ended whatever kind of relationship they might have in the future.
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