Show smyrna by KENNETH RAND said mr sampson Id total he added een it they are m own relatives he supplemented with a dogged shako of his partially bald head the souvenir postal card which called forth his op language had just arrived look at will oua t he turned the card over in his fingers peace on earth good will to men mr simp son read the inscription k then he turned it over we want ou with TIB day after tomorrow for a good old fashioned family reunion around the festal christmas hoard he read in throe lines of handwriting on the other side of tha card there you are be exclaimed wrathfully wrath tully there ou are doggone ill he waved the card alo bently around anthe air at arm a length as be continued muttering the send ou one of these paper dollies from a madhouse dining room went on mr sampson to the listening walls of the room of which he was the only occupant with peace on earth good will to men on one side and on the other an invitation to take a six hour trip out into the slushy country for a rotten meal with a gang of people who arho me crazy at the thought of being related to every time I 1 eee em here I 1 am he said regretfully shaking Us head over his bard lot in life here I 1 am planning that be comfortable for at least one christ nias anyway family aw a in florida for the winter me here all alone to do just as 1 like and now along comes tats this summons to spend ft day be ing miserable suddenly mr sampson eat up straight in hla chair di lerra he ejaculated suddenly by jerr to hinder me from being the cartr in the cause what a to prevent me from putting an end to this dad danged dinged practice huh suppose I 1 don t go to this christmas reunion suppose I 1 stay home hero and enjoy m day 0 peace on earth in the way I 1 want 0 o what bill happen why next year there wont be a single solitary soul of my relations that will get together in an affair of this kind have pointed the way be the example theve beau wait ing to follow away from custom and by jerry bet you the thing will spread tool and be responsible for it added mr sampson joyously if I 1 stay away just this once from ahli christmas party I 1 ve been invited to and think of the good I 1 m doing to other people toot he added how grateful the public will be to me for pointing out the way to their own re lease from this idiotic custom of sacrificing rif themselves why I 1 wonder it there would be a statue erected to me as the first man who stayed aw ay from family reunion at this holiday I 1 can see it now labeled the peoples santa claus he gave Us what we wanted most tor and so in pleasant reflection upon the perfection of his plan as he had carried it out mr bimpson s thoughts ran until christmas morning it was mr idea to cat his christmas dinner ordered from a nearby restaurant in the solitude of his own home bare as it was of his family at one 0 clock the waiter brought in the heavy tra mr sampson super intended the arrangement 0 its con enta on the in th agora y ana it was one nileen as nu stood rubbing bis hands at the pros hect of eating alono on Christma fl for tha farst time in bis life when the doorbell rang doggone it burst out mr simp eon that for a moment he decided not to open the door then he changed his mind and went downstairs two at a time it might be some bad news from his absent family he threw open the portal and stag back into the hall and after him trooped a gayly shouting and laughing party of sixteen mr relatives e came to eat our din ner here cried ono of his aunts you poor man w e knew you d be all alone gushed a first cousin we dlan t want you to eat your christmas dinner all by yourself chortled another female relation eo 96 brought ours here in baskets to eat TV ath you mr bimpson looked over the crowd still streaming into his front ball ills lips pursed tightly as he led the way to the dining room but all he said unintelligibly to his inn expected guests waa all I 1 buesa they wont put up that statue of me as santa claus this awl ri A mwry co i t |