After showering Bette slowly made her way to the calendar that hung in the kitchen pantry.  This had become part of her everyday ritual; for each day that Tina had been gone there was another “X” mark. Slowly and with tears in her eyes she gently traced a line leading to Christmas Day on the calendar.  It is a little over two weeks until Christmas thought Bette I don’t think that the time could be passing any slower.   Since this was Saturday, she decided that her goal for the rest of the day was to go through the motions and at least pretend to enjoy the holiday.  She entered the storage building and walked to the shelves where the Christmas decorations were stored.  Each box had been carefully marked by Tina as to its contents.  Bette slowly began to pull the boxes down deciding which ones she could open without being flooded by yet another memory. 

            As she stood lost in her thought’s she heard someone knocking on the front door.

Making her way back through the house she smiled when she saw Shane standing on the porch with a six pack of beer in each hand.  “Hey there Bette” said Shane as she entered the living room.  “Hey yourself” replied Bette, “it’s really nice to see you today.”   “I heard you rummaging around in your shed and thought I’d see if I could help you with anything” said Shane as she motioned towards the backyard.   “Actually I was just about to put up some Christmas decorations but could easily be persuaded to sit and have a beer or two instead” said Bette smiling softly at Shane.  As Shane entered the kitchen to put up the beer she noticed the calendar hanging on the wall.  Looking closely she saw that both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were circled.  Not wanting to make Bette uncomfortable about the calendar she closed the refrigerator and walked back into the living room.  “Hey Bette, are you hungry?” asked Shane.  “Actually I think that I am Shane” said Bette.  They decided to call and order from the deli down the street.  After the food was delivered, they went and sat by the pool and started to eat.  It was then that Shane noticed how broken Bette appeared.  With Bette, Shane knew that sometimes the best thing to do was just be there with her, for her.  As the two women sat and quietly finished their lunch both became lost in their memories.  Shane replayed the many happy events shared in this house by the group of friends she had come to regard as her “family”.  Shane missed Tina terribly, but accepted her decision to leave Bette.  Both she and Alice spoke frequently to her, although neither woman had seen her since she moved to San Diego.