12/16/2025
On December 31, my son handed me a mop, saying, «So you donât forget your place.» The guests laughed, but after midnight, I made an announcement they bitterly regretted đšđą
December 31. Thick snow falls slowly outside the kitchen window. It settles on the branches of the spruces by the fence, on the roof of the garden pavilion, and on the flower beds I had patiently and meticulously tended all summer. Winter has erased its traces, and the outside world seems calm and orderly.
The house is filled with its usual silence. It is warm, heavy, scented with the aromas of bread dough, pine needles, and the heat of the stove. In these moments, the solitude of my eighty-two years does not weigh on me; on the contrary, it soothes me. I hear the creaking of the floorboards, the echo of the house my husband and I built so many years ago. My husband has been gone for a long time, yet his presence is still felt within these walls.
I know it will not last. Very soon, the house will be filled with voices, footsteps, laughter, and joyful commotion. My son Max and his wife, their daughter, as well as relatives and friends will arriveâsixteen people in total. I cook for everyone, as I have done for years.
The chicken is already browning in the oven. Bowls are on the table, and cabbage and potato pies are carefully arranged on towels. I have much to do, but everything is familiar and requires no special effort.
They arrive noisily. Brakes screech, doors slam, and conversations and laughter flood the house, mingling with the cold air. No one stops to greet me with a kiss. I simply step aside to make way and return to the kitchen. This place has belonged to me for a long time.
The party begins on its own. I clear the tables, set the plates, pour the drinks, and remove the empty bowls. Around the table, toasts are made to the past year, to future plans, to health. Glasses clink on the tablecloth I embroidered during my husbandâs lifetime. I listen, silently.
On December 31, my son gave me a mop, saying, âSo you donât forget your place.â The guests laughed, but after midnight, I made an announcement they bitterly regretted.
After a few toasts, Max rises from the table. He speaks louder than usual, confidently, as if he already knows everyone will listen. He announces that it is time for gifts and approaches me, holding a long package. The wrapping paper rustles as he unwraps it, revealing a mop.
He hands it to me and says:
âFor you, so you donât forget your place,â he says aloud, so everyone can hear.
The room erupted in laughter. Someone snickered, someone clapped, the bride turned away, pretending to adjust her napkin. I stood there, the mop in my hand, watching them with the same calm I had when watching the snow fall outside the window.
At the stroke of midnight, shouts of âHappy New Year!â filled the house, champagne flowed freely, someone hugged Max, someone reached out to his daughter-in-law.
I leaned the mop against the wall, slowly wiped my hands with a towel, and waited for the last stroke of midnight to fade into the clamor. It was then that I made an announcementâafter which they bitterly regretted their actions đšđšâŠ To be continued in the first comment đđ