"Do Not Open Until Christmas"

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My friend T, last Christmastime, did a lovely rendition of Alabama's "Christmas in Dixie":

Her voice got me to thinking about the Christmas anthology I was then reading---in which each tale was inspired by a Christmas carol---and when its editor announced a second collection, I set to work on a Christmas tale set in Dixie.

Happily, Tyrah, an Alabaman herself, helped me get my Southern straight (though I rush to point out that I will still fool no Southerners) and, as we talked about grandpas, I felt a kinship to her in that her Alabama grandpa and my Idaho grandpa share a lot of similarities.

And both are now gone.

I dedicate this story to both.

May they share a lovely Christmas with the babe himself.

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