What Makes a Scrooge?
Kirsten Cohen sat by the fire with some hot chocolate in hand. Her eyes were drawn to the beautiful tree in the center of the room all a twinkle with ornaments and lights. They had decorated it as a family last night. She was overjoyed that both her sons and daughter-in-laws had made it home for Chrismukkah, but the holidays were still tough without her parents. The loss of her Dad was still pretty fresh as it had only been four years. It saddened Kirsten deeply that Sophie would never know Caleb. She knew everyone thought of him as a modern day Ebenezer Scrooge who hated the holidays and everything else good in the world, but that hadn't always been true. Sure he'd always been driven by money and power, but that took on new life after her mother's death. He threw himself into the Newport Group to try and fill the massive void in his heart.
When she and her little sister Hailey were younger he'd been more affectionate, and he took time off to spend with his family around the time school let out for Christmas vacation.. He always made it seem as if he didn't want to participate in things like stringing lights, baking, decorating the tree, sleigh rides, or reading holiday stories; but Kirsten saw right through the act. She knew that her Mom's love for the Christmas season rubbed off on him long ago. One of the most vivid memories she had was sitting together by the tree admiring it, taking about anything and everything, while they ate fresh Rice Krispies squares, or warm chocolate chip cookies. Of course traditions from her childhood vanished with her mom's passing as Caleb practically refused to acknowledge the season altogether from then on. She guessed it hurt too much. It was sad really, and now they'd never have the chance to revive those traditions because he was gone too. A single tear rolled down her cheek before she decided she wouldn't wallow in sadness today. She was going to make some new memories with her daughter while she told her about a new side of her Grandpa.
"Hey Soph?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you wanna make some holiday Rice Krispies squares with me?"
"Sure!"