Home for the Holidays

They had been married for just six months. She always wanted to be a June bride, and her dream came true. What she didn't expect was that marrying the man of her dreams would mean moving two states away from her dear parents. She was an only child, and leaving her mom and dad to start her new life with Hal was like adapting to a whole new climate and culture. Life apart from them felt unnatural.

Still, she rallied and made the best of it. Married life was certainly a joy, but when she realized that Christmas was just around the corner, she couldn't abide the thought of spending the holidays away from her mom and dad. Hal was a good-hearted chap, and he knew there was no way he could disappoint his brown-eyed beauty.

They loaded up the car and drove through blustery winds and a few flurries, crossing into Connecticut and finally arriving in Massachusetts. Hal felt smug, knowing that his new father-in-law was going to love the necktie that he picked up for him on his last visit to Brooks Brothers. Joan, though, didn't have words. When she walked through the door of her parent's house and fell into her mother's arms, nothing else mattered. She was home.