“Go ahead, Dad, open it.”
“Okay. Wow, it’s heavy.” Lee’s face contorted as eh fumbled with the
personally wrapped gift, then finally found where the edges met and ripped
off the shiny paper. A cardboard gift box was revealed. Under the lid
Lee saw his face staring back a handsomely carved, wood picture frame.
The picture was of he and Amanda from a family picnic a few weeks ago. He
was holding his wife and they both had “say cheese” grins on their faces.
The frame was intricately carved to lend an extra feel of sun and flowers
to the photo.
“There’s another one in there, Dad.” The voice of the gift giver was
impatient.
“Uh . . . oh.” He took out the first picture and stood it up on the
coffee table. Looking into the box again, he saw another carved frame,
surrounding another happy picture.
“Do you like ‘em?”
“Yes, very much. Thank you, Michael.” Lee grinned at his
sixteen-year-old son and glanced again at the second photo, which included
Phillip and Jamie, along with their younger brother. “My three sons.” He
laughed at the groan emanating from his youngest and definitely too-cool-
for-Dad’s-corny-jokes.
“Well, you said I should be saving my Quickie Chicken Snack Shack earnings
for college, so I asked Jamie to develop my film, and Mom helped me order
the wood online.” Michael was eager to boast of the pride and care he
took in his work.
“Great job you did of carving the wood and putting the frames together.
I’m glad you didn’t get me some little gadget they I wouldn’t use for more
than ten minutes.”
Michael fairly shone with pride. “I knew when the first one was done you
would like them. Happy fifty-second.”
“Thank you son.” Lee hugged him, truly touched by the thought that had
gone into the gifts.
“Mom said Phillip and Constance are bringing Robert over in a little
while, to have dessert with us. And Jamie called a little while ago, said
he was bringing Kelly, too.”
“Really? I didn’t think they’d be able to make it.”
“Me neither. Jamie sure sounded excited, though.”
“I can’t wait to catch up with all the news. Of course, it’s always good
to see my grandson, again.”
“Yeah, I know, it’s addictive. For the last three weeks, all I’ve done is
gush about my nephew to my friends,” Michael admitted with a sheepish
grin.
“Hey, don’t be embarrassed. Wait till you have kids, you’ll want everyone
fussing over them, too.”
“Well, I’m going to go see what Mom’s making for your birthday dessert.”
”Okay. I’ll be right here in the living room, reading my paper . . . and
waiting for the rest of the family to arrive.” Lee smiled, ‘my family’.
The evening just kept getting better and better.
The End
Story Notes:
This is based on the fact that canon has led me to believe Lee was born in 1952. May, 1952, for convenience sake. The timeframe for this story is May 12, 2004.
Disclaimer: Most of the characters in this story are WB’s and Shoot the Moon’s, but certainly not mine. This is for entertainment only.
Disclaimer: Most of the characters in this story are WB’s and Shoot the Moon’s, but certainly not mine. This is for entertainment only.