The year after Pap-Pap died on Christmas, Dad’s ceramic holiday village expands from under the tree to along the wall. The next year, he peoples and houses the coffee table and end tables. The next, we eat off trays in the living room. I picture Pap-Pap walking the tiny streets.

Nicholas De Marino is a published crackpot. More at nicholasdemarino.blogspot.com.