My parents were going to spend the holiday in France at Brian and Michelle's holiday gite. It would be the first Christmas they'd ever spent away from...their home and only agreed to go because Paul and me told them to. Paul, himself, had booked a foreign holiday for just after Christmas. I was invited but pressures of work meant that I would be working right up to Christmas Eve. I also felt like being alone, not feeling up to watch couples celebrate their time together. I was now well over. But it was her personality and sense of humor that I had come to regard as her best feature. She not only loved to play jokes on me; she was a great sport on the rare occasions I put one over on her. She was almost always pleasant and positive. Our daughters had either inherited or acquired that from her. They were both popular, responsible, young beauties that made me proud as hell.Debbie interrupted my thoughts when she returned to the table. I assisted her into her seat. As she sat down, she. " She held it open and I stepped into it. She pulled upthe elastic waistband and stood back to examine me."Oh, just look at you! Lovely Lisa, all dressed up in her pretties. Nostockings for you until you shave your legs. Do any of my shoes fit you?"I pointed to the pair of sandals I'd been able to squeeze my feet into."Come, sit." She patted the padded seat of her vanity stool. I sat, andshe strapped my feet into the sandals. "I'll do your makeup."I was tempted to refuse, but realized that. True, all the new recruits had at least some light in their eyes, but to quote from a Goldie Hawn movie, the lights flickered. It was even worse trying to hire civilians. I was, again, in the process of interviewing the group of misfits and mental cripples that Civilian Personnel had deigned to send us. The job was relatively hard and required dedication, but was only a GS-4. When the outfit gained another Colonel, he needed a receptionist, and so they gave him our GS-5 position to answer.