Kind Hearted (Patrick Kane)

47- Long Distance

Tori

After Patrick and I get back from Arizona it was finally December. October might be my favorite month, but Christmas was by far my favorite holiday. It was a time to be selfless and extra and caring and I simply couldn't wait. I already had my Christmas scrubs picked out and little treats to hand our at the hospital as little random acts of kindness. I had money saved up to spend like crazy so I could get people the things they want. And of course there was time set aside for volunteering and doing toys for tots with the Blackhawks people. I was extra excited about that.

As tradition has it I go over to my dads apartment and help him decorate. Ever since I was a little baby my dad and I decorated the house so it looks like one of those creepy houses you see on tv with those people with crazy obsessions. Even though we didn't have a lot growing up, the Christmas magic always seemed to come out. We made a lot of things ourselves and put them up like it was a painting in a art museum. I never knew I was unfortunate growing up because my dad made sure to know that I was blessed enough to have a Christmas hat I can celebrate. And I never did ask for much, I always loved what little I got.

And this year I had a few days off in December where I planned on doing nothing important with my favorite people in this whole world. We can make treats and set up the Christmas tree and not care about the world around me for just a little while. And that's exactly what I was going to do.

So I dig out all our old Christmas stuff from when we moved and I get some new things to put up too. We dedicate the whole day to setting up the tree and hanging up the lights and ornaments. We each got our own stockings and we put them up on the wall. The angel gets put on top of the tree after my dad helps me put it up there like always. He doesn't have to lift me up anymore but if I was a inch shorter he probably would.

Eventually I turn to look around at what we've been able to do so far and I see my dad sitting down on the couch with something in his lap as he stares at it. He had the biggest smile on his face as his eyes search whatever it is he was holding.

"What did you find there buddy" I ask.

"A scrap book" he claims and I smile. We didn't have many of those.

"Ohhh I'm interested. I wanna see" Patrick insists like a little kid at... well at Christmas. He sits down next to my dad and looks over to the scrap book.

"There's not that many pictures in there. You know, besides a few Polaroid picture cameras we didn't have much. Unless it was a special occasion there was no camera around. But I did a good job of keeping a bunch of things, there's a lot of momentous in there" I explain.

"That's okay. I always love learning about you" Patrick claims as he smiles up to me. I sit myself on the arm of the couch so I can see what they were looking at. My dad takes that as a cue to open it up and look inside. The first page was of my first Christmas and I smile big. Even then my mom isn't in the pictures much, but I looked like a pretty happy baby. We weren't totally dirt poor yet but it was still Detroit in the 80's, it wasn't exactly golden embroidered baby blankets and bedazzled teething rings.

"Awww that's so cute" Patrick coos as he points to a little baby bib and I laugh.

"My Grandma made that" I smile.

"Do you miss your family" he asks and I sigh.

"I do. If it was up to me I would give them all the money I have. I would get them a better place to live and a clean bill of health and good jobs and all that stuff. But I just can't, and it sucks. There's no way I can reach them because their internet is shut off and I don't have time to go back and visit. I feel bad for leaving them, especially around the holiday, but we couldn't stay and they couldn't come with" I explain.

"I'm sorry I asked, I didn't mean-" he starts.

"It's alright Patrick, you don't have to apologize. It's not you're fault this is the way it is. Many families don't get to be together for the betterment of their lives. That's okay. I know one day I will see them again and I'll be able to help them. Until then I'm going to keep making sure my father is okay and that we are both happy" I insist.

"You're happy, right" he asks.

"I'm very happy. I get to spend my favorite holiday with my favorite people" I smile.

"And me" he teases and I laugh.

"And you."

We spend a while looking over the scrap books. There wasn't a lot of good memories that I wanted to revisit. But the ones I did were all in there. And by the time we get to the back of the book Patrick finally asks.

"Who is that girl who's in half of these pictures" he asks pointing to a little mixed girl standing next to me.

"That would be my best friend Alicia. She used to live next door and she had it way worse than I ever did. At least I had one great parent. She had zero decent ones and always defected to our house when she could. But our doors were always open to her, she was such a joy to have around. A lot of who I am today is because of her. She was a role model to me. The epitome of a model citizen. She showed me kindness and I was able to show it to others too" I smile.

"Well I would love to meet her someday" he claims.

"I hope to see her again too, someday."