We Are Called to Rise

Nate hasn’t contacted Avis since his abusive outburst. Lauren tells Avis things are better and that she will talk to Nate about future counseling. Avis is unsure about her role in the marriage of her 27-year-old son. Avis visits her brother Rodney’s house, and when she arrives, Nate is there helping to set up Christmas decorations. Rodney loves Christmas, and Avis recalls him spending all his Social Security money in previous years to buy more decorations than necessary. Sharlene and Rodney shared the house for decades, though Jim helped Sharlene by paying out the mortgage—something that Avis was unaware of until after her mother’s death. Avis disapproves of her family’s influence on Nate as a child—they would drink beers and be crude around him—but is glad Rodney has given himself a purpose by getting involved in the family’s Christmas tradition. Rodney is in bad physical condition, in a wheelchair since age 19 and a recovering addict. By age 12, Rodney would smoke and drink whiskey with Sharlene; they were more friends than mother and son, Avis observes. When Avis would try to intervene, Sharlene would “cut” her own daughter with insults. She regrets how Rodney’s life turned out but accepts his happiness.