He had made his own way in the wide world and had not looked back. After that he immediately went into the mines and steadily worked his way up to be a manager for one of the big companies.

But fifteen-year-old Gabe had refused to go with her, insisting on staying with Sada and Opal until he graduated from high school. After Jack’s death in the wreck on Buffalo Mountain, Gabe’s mother had remarried and moved to Knoxville as quickly as striking a match. They did like him, of course, just not as much as they loved him.

The Morgan Sisters worshipped Gabe, a fact owed more to him being the only son of their lost brother, Jack, than to his general likability. They were proud to be able to provide a huge supper tonight. They both drew a small pension from their years of hard work-Opal at the yarn factory and Sada as a teacher at the Bray Elementary School, where she had given thirty-three years of her life as a music teacher-but they had saved for weeks to put on the Christmas celebration. Opal never had married-her motto spoken with fists planted on her hips: “I don’t need no man and never did.” But the sisters had always needed each other. Sada and Opal had lived together in the little house at the mouth of Free Creek ever since Sada’s husband passed away twenty-five years ago, dead in the Dublin Coal Disaster. So, they had called all of their closest family and told a few of the neighbors on Free Creek who were like family, and here they were, all crowding into the house on the evening when magic happened. Most young people didn’t even know what January Sixth meant. She had always wanted to have an Old Christmas party people never celebrated that anymore. When she lit on the idea to do it on Old Christmas, she could hardly contain her excitement. As soon as Opal was released on New Year’s Eve, Sada had started planning a way to make up the annual get-together. Usually it was held on Christmas Eve, but this year Opal had been in the hospital-pneumonia-so Sada had tended to her all through the holidays. Her grandmother, Sada, and great-aunt, Opal, chirped like little birds as they twittered about, but one of them was constantly poking her head into the foyer to ask if Gabe had made it yet.Įverybody loved the Morgan Sisters’ Christmas gathering. They seemed to be the most desired guests of all. Lily knew that everyone had arrived except her uncle, Gabe, and his wife Greta.

The bed was piled teetering high with coats now. Hardly had she brought one uncle or cousin into the living room than another was letting in cold air and slanting snow when they stood too long with the door open. Lily was worn out from a solid hour of ferrying coats to the back bedroom and greeting folks at the front door. Another Country A new generation is growing up in our midst, a generation actuated by new ideas and new principles.

Silas Gets a Sister by Grannie Snow