Peppermint Cheesecake For Christmas

Amy stood at the back of the crowd, trying her best to blend in and appear to be one of the happy smiling children waiting to see Santa Claus. Despite the fact that she was in fourth grade and too old to believe in Santa, she had agreed to go, knowing that her Grandmother was doing her best to make her holidays as normal as possible.

The ache in Amy's heart just wouldn't go away but she put on her best face and tried to appear happy for her grandma's sake. For the past several months, sadness seemed to be a permanent part of her life. Although there were other girls and boys in her new fourth grade class that were going through similar if not even worse things than she was, that was no consolation when it came to the deep sadness she was feeling.

Amy's father was in the Air Force and had been serving his second tour in Iraq when he had been seriously wounded. The wounds were so severe that they weren't even able to bring him home for the time being. He had been flown to Ramstein Air Force base and transferred to the military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany to be stabilized. For the last three weeks he was lying in the intensive care unit with her mother by his side.

Amy had been sent from her home in North Dakota to live with her father's mother, Grandma Betty in West Virginia until things were better with her father and her mother would be able to return. Of course Amy loved her grandmother but didn't know her well because of the distance between the two states. Grandma Betty had previously lived in the same town as them in North Dakota but when her sister, Thelma became ill several years ago, Grandma Betty had felt it was her duty to move closer to her sister to help care for her especially since her husband, Grandpa Ed had died the previous year. Amy had been five years old when Grandma Betty moved and she had not seen her more than once or twice a year since then.

One thing Amy was happy about was that she liked her new school, the children in her class and especially her teacher, Ms. Brown. She was young, bubbly and enthusiastic with her class. She made the time they were at school into an adventure. One thing did have Amy worried however. For Christmas, Ms. Brown gave them the assignment of doing a report on a special Christmas tradition that was observed in each of their families. They were to bring something in to school that tied in with the tradition as a type of show and tell.

Amy didn't want to burden her grandmother with something like that and Amy just didn't know what she could report on as being a Christmas tradition, let alone doing show and tell about it. She remembered some of the great Christmas's she and her parents had celebrated over the years. Her father was usually able to be home with them sometime over the Christmas holiday. They always had plenty of fun and laughter as they would decorate, shop for special gifts and prepare lots of great food. Her father's all time favorite dessert was her mother's Peppermint Cheesecake

Every Christmas without fail they had the cheesecake on Christmas Eve and even left a slice out with a glass of cold milk for Santa Claus. Even though Amy was too old to believe in Santa anymore, they still continued the tradition every year. Amy didn't know what would happen this year since she was staying with her grandmother. She was almost embarrassed to ask her to make a cheesecake for Christmas eve instead of the traditional cookies served in most homes.

As the days inched closer to Christmas and the day she was responsible for reporting on her Christmas tradition, Grandma Betty notice how quiet Amy was being. It was even more pronounced than usual so she sat her down and asked her if there was anything she could help her with. Amy finally told her about the assignment she had for class and Grandma Betty assured her that she would help her come up with something. Grandma Betty told her that when Amy's father was still living at home with her and Grandpa Ed, they had a special, if not quirky tradition of serving Peppermint Cheesecake every Christmas Eve and even left some out for Santa. Amy looked at her with surprise and excitedly told her that they did the same thing every year. She just wasn't aware that what she thought was just a tradition for her and her parents, had actually been something her father had been doing his whole life. She felt a surge of warmth and increased love for her Grandmother as they set out to buy the ingredients for both the show and tell cheesecake and the one for Christmas Eve.

The day of her presentation at school, Amy proudly brought in the cheesecake and presented her report on her Christmas Tradition. Everyone in the class told her that they thought it was a really cool tradition and loved the Peppermint Cheesecake. Several of her new friends even said they were going to ask their parents to start the same tradition instead of the same old milk and cookies they usually had. Amy excitedly told her Grandmother that the cheesecake and report had been a huge hit. This was actually a bit of a turning point in their relationship and they became closer as Christmas Eve approached.

After dinner on Christmas Eve, they attended the Christmas Eve service at church and when they arrived back home, they got out the Peppermint Cheesecake to enjoy before putting out the serving for Santa. As Amy prepared to take her first bite, Grandma Betty told her that she had a surprise for her. She took her over to the computer monitor in the corner of the room and turned it on. Before Amy knew what was happening, the faces of her parents filled the screen. Amy couldn't believe her eyes and ears when she realized her grandmother had set up a web cam and she was actually seeing her parents from her father's hospital room in Germany and that she could even talk to them.

She found out that her father had been rapidly improving and his doctors felt he was up to a short conversation via the web cam to his beloved daughter, who was so far away from him during this special time of the year. There were tears in her parents' eyes when she told them that she and Grandma Betty had carried on the Peppermint Cheesecake tradition and via the wonder of the technology, they were all able to share the tradition together.

After she, her parents and grandmother had spoken for a few minutes, it was time to say Merry Christmas to each other and sign off so her father could rest and continue on his road to recovery. With a big smile on her face, Amy took a big bite of her cheesecake vowed to always carry on the Christmas Cheesecake tradition.