The Otter Side

We are visiting my mother for Christmas. Mother is 82 years old and lives in the house her father built in 1939. It sits 6 feet from the site of the original house (built mid-1800's) in which she was born. She taught school for 36 years, starting in a one-room schoolhouse. She taught grades 5-8 as her older sister taught grades 1-4.

She was telling Eleanor some stories about her life as a little girl when I got an inspiration. I lit a kerosene lamp she keeps on the mantel (in case of power outages) then turned off every light in the house. Mother read Christmas stories to Eleanor by the light of the lamp. It was magical for everyone, but you can see that it was especially so for Eleanor.