Texas, oh how I love (when it's not scalding hot)

23 DECEMBRE 

Hey Ben! 

exclamations from Ben expressing his surprise and delight at a phone call from me

Could you pick me up tomorrow from the Dallas airport?

Uh...what?

Could you pick me up from the Dallas airport tomorrow around 3pm?

DFW?

Yes.

Wait, really?

Yeah!

…

Between meals.

24 DECEMBRE: call to Lampasas, Texas

Hi Grannie! Am I on speaker phone? Are Mom and Dad there?

The family sings “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”

Oh hello Emily! We’ve been thinking of you and miss you a lot. We wish you were here!

Me too, Grannie, so I flew home and I’m in the Dallas airport. Could Mom and Dad meet me in Glen Rose?

gasps and exclamations

Really Emily?! Here I’ll let you talk to your Mother so ya’ll can figure all this out.

squeal from Mom

10 minutes later in the airport…

Neeeee! (this is sound created by pressing the tongue against the roof of the mouth, building up the greatest possible volume on the edge of the throat, then letting it all out at once in a screeching whistle upon releasing the tongue from the roof of the mouth. It can be heard for miles when executed correctly. My school friends and I use it to locate one another on campus.)

REAL good burger: Storm's in Lampasas

My head turns.

Ginny (who had made the call) and Ben come running just before I exited the airport.

Squeals ensue, laughs roll, tears fall, eyes turn, hugs commence, smiles spread.

During the hour and a half it took for them to drive me to Glen Rose they never once asked me about Paris. I wonder if they were afraid to ask, afraid to discover that I had changed. 

Dont worry, there is nothing drastically different about me.

They weren't prepared for me so I got a Target bag stocking
with goodies taken from my brothers' stockings

We met my parents and my Shnookie (my blonde dog) at the Sonic and from there, Mom and Dad drove me to the family gathering in Lampasas.

Everyone there had been present during my startling call except Granddad and they’d purposely kept the news from him. When I walked into my grandparents’ house, I stood at the end of the dining room table where he and the men of the family were playing cards. His casual glance up changed to confused concentration followed by a big smile and “Well, Emily!” Then a hug.

It was a wonderful Christmas.