Here’s my entry into Susanna Leonard Hill‘s Thanksgiving Contest. Writers are linking their entries to this post. So, get a little Thanksgiving cheer by stopping by and reading the stories. 





Off to Grandma’s House

By Stacy S. Jensen


They were supposed to go to Grandma’s for Thanksgiving, but the blizzard came in fast.
Henry popped his head from under his covers. “What?”
“We can’t make it to Grandma’s house,” Mom said again.
“ That’s what we do,” Henry cried.
“We can’t,” Mom said.
“I can,” Henry said jumping out of bed and looking out the window to see the streets empty and everything covered in snow.
Henry dressed in his long johns, sweatshirt and snowsuit.
He fixed a ham sandwich, potato chips and water.
“Where are you going?” Mom asked.
“To Grandma’s” Henry said.
“You can’t,” Mom said.
“I can,” Henry said pulling his backpack over his jacket.
In the garage, Henry put on his snowshoes.
Dad walked by and asked. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to Grandma’s,” Henry said.
“You can’t,” Dad said.
“I can,” Henry said grabbing the rope to his sled.
Dad shook his head at Henry. “Wait a minute,” he said and returned in his own snowshoes.
“We’ll go together,” Dad said.
Father and son walked down the neighborhood through piles of snow. Henry slid down the hills.
It took a while, but Henry made it to Grandma’s house. She hadn’t fixed a meal as all the family stayed home due to the storm.
“I don’t have anything,” Grandma said.
“I do,” Henry said. “We’ll share.”
After lunch, Grandma made hot chocolate with a white frothy top for Henry.
“Now this is Thanksgiving,” Henry said slurping his drink.

A note:
I sought snow guidance from Hubby, who grew up in Iowa. He was quite the Debbie Downer on how to get Henry to Grandma’s house in a blizzard. Henry would be featured on a Dateline Special/news drama show had I used Hubby’s realistic advice. 
Earlier this month Jennifer Young from Castles in the Sky gave me the Versatile Blogger Award. I’m grateful she thought about me. She has a wonderful blog. She wrote a great piece earlier this month on Why I Write
I know I’ve been a bit wacky with my posts this month as I’ve been focusing on picture books and participating in a few extra events. I promise to return to my regular three posts a week in December.