My family has simple traditions for Christmas arrangements, because both sides of the family of course want us to be with them. So, we go to my mother's side on Christmas Eve and my father's on Christmas Day. This year was fairly typical in mood and ritual: chatting, eating, children waiting by the tree, more chatting, more eating, reading the Christmas story, opening gifts, chatting, and attempting to force just a bit more food down our gullets. While it is certainly quality family time, I don't think any of it is interesting enough to warrant a post about. One event of Christmas Eve, however, was startling enough to me that I will not ever forget it. I was and am somewhat hesitant about sharing the story, but I cannot truthfully see any harm come from it.

My grandfather is ill, and not expected to live very long now. We've known this for a long time, and he has made his peace. In the week before Christmas he hit a very low point, but surprisingly perked up a bit as the holiday approached. On Christmas Eve, he was very tardy in taking his pain medication, and he claimed to feel confused, so he talked very little. His comments during the evening, however, made us question how confused he really was.

At one point in the conversation, my grandfather spoke up and said, out of the blue, "The horse is out." This was a strange thing to say, because the horse, to my knowledge, had never gotten out before, it was pitch black outside, and the pasture is on the opposite side of the house as the windows. We left it at that for some time until my aunt went outside to check on the animals and found that the horse was indeed out. She proceeded to walk around the fence until she found the place where it had fallen.

Meanwhile, inside the house, the conversation continued, with us unaware of the first situation. Then, out of the blue again, my grandfather said, "She needs the pliers." We didn't know what he meant for a few seconds until the door opened and my aunt came in and asked for the pliers. She explained that the horse really had gotten out and she needed to fix the fence. This surprised us, needless to say, and rather set us on the lookout for what other predictions my grandfather might make. We asked him how he knew, and he just gave a gesture of confusion.

A couple days before, my brother had taken an all-day trip to his new apartment to move his furniture and belongings in. When he got home, he told me, but no one else, that he had accidentally left our vacuum at his apartment. (Vacuuming is one of my chores.)

Christmas Eve evening passed, and discussion turned to the new apartment. My brother had only begun talking about its size and location when my grandfather interrupted, saying "You left the vacuum there." Again, this startled us. We asked how he knew that, but he didn't know how.

Just a few minutes later, he took his pain medication. That was the end of the evening's soothsaying.

-gabby