My Family Left Me Alone on a Holiday – Until One Knock Turned the Night Upside Down

Not Sarah, the 45-year-old lawyer with the downtown office, but the gap-toothed kid with the ponytail and the backpack too big for her little shoulders.

Then I called Michael, my eldest.

“Family dinner today! I made your favorite potatoes, the ones you and your sister used to fight over.”

“You always took her side,” he said. But he was smiling.

I could hear it.

He chuckled. “We’ll try, Dad.”

The grandkids were last — Michael’s eldest kids, Emma and Jake.

They were just getting started in life, and too busy for old people, usually.

I put them on speakerphone and heard chaos in the background. Music. Voices.

I put on my funny grandpa voice.

“Is your old man still cool enough for your schedule? I’m hosting a family dinner today, and I’ve got real dessert.”

That got their attention.

“Okay, okay. Maybe,” Emma said.

Maybe. I hung up smiling anyway.

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