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Show Family Weekly December 21, m9 The Christmas Party mm o arc I Never Wanted and Will Never Forget lI I I VJ 1 vsrr This noted novelist found his yacht overcrowded with holiday guests; he wasn't loo happy about it not until a memorable midnight surprise "I Mil By SLOAN WILSON ' Author of "Tha Man in the Gray Flannel Sort," "A Sns of VoIom." and "Away from It All" -- "-- fki- most memorable MYChristmas started out to be a disaster. My wife Betty, our two-year-o- ld daughter Jessica, and I had recently given up our apartment in New York' to live permanently aboard a lovely motor cruiser but narrow old in Florida. In the excitement of making this great change in our lives, we had broadcast invitations to all our friends and relatives, begging them to visit us any time they came south. The week before . Christmas everybody accepted all at once! "This is going to be impossible!" Betty cried in dismay. "All three of the older children want to come and bring friends from college. Mort Leavy and Fay are going to bring their two daughters. My father will be here from Ireland. That means there are going to be 14 people aboard this boat. It will be like having a cocktail party in a closet ! And we only have seven bunks!" "The kids will stretch sleeping bags out on deck," I said. "What will they do when it rains?" "Ill rig up some tarpaulins." "How am I going to cook for them fcll on a three-burnstove?" "Stick to hot dogs and hamburgers. If we stiy on the Inland Water Route, we can eat ashore a lot." "It's going to be a madhouse," she said gloomily. "How can we put up 14 people in a boat that has only four cabins? And not one of them is as big as the elevator is at home !" "Do you want to tell any of them not to come on down?" "No, we've been begging Mort and 54-fo- ot er 4 Family Weekly, December tl, 1969 Fay to visit us for months. We can't tell the kids not to come, and if they can't bring their friends, we'll probably never see them. My father would be terribly hurt." "It won't be bad when people are on deck. And maybe I can arrange for some of them to stay ashore some of the time. I have a friend who runs a boarding school in Palm Beach which will probably have empty dormitories over the holiday." That seemed a practical solution, but wlien our guests arrived, it also turned out to be a miserable one, for everyone wanted to cruise around the Florida Keys, not to hang around a deserted campus. "Let's take a chance on the weather," I said. "If things get bad, we can tie up near some hotel." "It would cost a fortune to put this gang ashore!" "Maybe it won't rain. Things will work out somehow." The young people were cheerful as they picked places on deck to unroll sleeping bags, an4 Betty's father said several times that the narrow bench in the deckhouse was really extremely comfortable. had Although our tiny after-cabiMort two small bunks, Leavy only said there was plenty of room for his family of foui. The weather reports weren't encouraging, but two days before Christmas the sky cleared up, and we started down the canals to the Keys. "Can we stop in some town before the stores close?" Betty asked. "I haven't had a minute to plan any Christmas decorations." "Oh, no!" I groaned. "We just n don't have room for that sort of thing. Everything is complicated enough as it is." "Can't we even have a Christmas tree?" she asked. "Where would you put it?" "All the other boats have tiny ones at least. Jessie's just getting old enough to appreciate Christmas. Couldn't we hang up a few wreaths and colored lights?" I was tired and worried by the task of running a crowded boat safely. "Christmas decorations are a fire hazard at sea," I replied. "Strings of it colored lights can and throw out our electrical system." "Can't we at least hang up a few sprigs of holly and some mistletoe?" "There isn't room for people to hang up their clothes!" I retorted. "Aren't you having trouble enough short-circu- as it is?" "All right' Betty said sadly. "We'll give up Christmas." "I didn't say that!" for some reason, my voice sounded angry. "Christmas isn't supposed to be just wreaths and a tree and colored lights. Christmas is tLa spirit of giving, and I'm giving everything I've got just to keep this gang alive. Christmas is people, and heaven knows we have plenty of them!" "All right," she said. "What do you want to have for Christmas dinner? Hot dogs and hamburgers?" "What else are you going to cook for 14 people on a three-burnstove? Try a big beef stew. You'd never get a big turkey in our oven " "Some Christmas this is going to be " she said and went below. Betty had cheerfully put up with a er S. W. fc When I got on deck, 1 found the children and Betty winding Christmas ribbon around the awning supports. many inconveniences ever since we had moved aboard the boat, and I expected her to bounce back from the disappointment of missing a traditional Christmas celebration, but that evening she seemed more depressed than ever. My attempts to justify my Scroogelike attitude by emphasizing the necessity for safety precautions at sea were ruined by a parade of gaily decorated boats which turned the Inland Waterway into a Christmas carnival. Many boats had colored lights strung from bow to stern. Christmas trees sprouted from the decks of the tiniest houseboats. Papier mtche Santa Clauses climbed from the stacks of larger yachts, and a cardboard reindeer pranced on many a flying bridge. One big schooner had all her masts and rigging blinking with lights. "All that wiring must be waterproof," I said to Betty as she sat with Jessie admiring the fleet. "It would cost a fortune to decorate this boat like that." "All right," she said acidly. "Do you mind if I go ashore and at least get some things to fill stockings?" "Go ahead," I replied defensively. "I've got to wash the decks down and great V |