People need to reward themselves from time to time throughout their lives,which is the reason for the joys and jubilations of the holidays.

My grandmother knows this better than anyone,so she values festivals and puts in the effort to make every festival a delight.The Spring Festival,Lantern Festival,and Dragon Boat Festival are undoubtedly the biggest,yet to the more obscure holidays to Westerners,like the Winter Solstice and the beginning of the first solar term,called the Beginning of Spring,to her were just as important and worthy of the same exhaustive preparations.

She would prepare so much food to wish the festival last forever.The reason for this in her own words was,“Having leftover food in our house means we won’t go hungry for a whole year.No matter how hard life can be,we should enjoy Mid-Autumn Festival.” She seemed to value this day more than any other,as if it had some kind of mysterious precedence whose importance only she understood.At her request every member of the family would be on their very best behavior,strive to be jovial and lighthearted,and say nothing that might dampen the mood.

Making even the slightest mention of my father,who was working far away was strictly taboo.

I missed my dad until it hurt,yet I buried every word and emotion deep within my heart.I’m pretty sure my family did the same.

One Mid-Autumn Day,loud banging in the middle of the night woke us up from our sound sleep.Someone was knocking on our door and it was getting louder and louder.

Grandma sat up.I sat up as well,realizing in the haze of semiconsciousness that it was not just a dream.Someone was indeed knocking on our door at this ungodly hour.

My mother got out of bed before we did and opened the door.

A tall lean man came in.

It was Dad,whom I recognized immediately.

“Dad!” I jumped up,and he caught me in his arms before my feet landed on the floor.

Dad’s return was so sudden and unexpected that everyone was shocked but overjoyed.

It took three or four minutes before my mother and grandmother recovered from their initial shock and asked in unison,“How come you are back?”

人这一辈子需要不时地犒赏自己，为了多些欢乐，就得好好过节。

没有比外祖母更懂这个道理的人了，所以她最重视节日，只要是节日就不肯放过，一定把它过得像模像样。不要说春节、元宵、端午这几个大节日了，就连冬至、立春这样的小节日，她都会按部就班地准备下来。

好东西吃也吃不完。外祖母说：“吃不完就是一年不挨饿，日子再苦，中秋节也要好好过。”她对这一天的重视，似乎超过了任何一天，到了今晚，大家都要高兴，都不能讲生气的话。

这天晚上不能提爸爸，他在很远的地方干活。

我一直忍住，尽管特别想念。我相信她们也一样。

一年中秋节，已经到了半夜。

睡梦中，有人来敲我们的门，“咚咚、咚咚”，越敲越响。

外祖母呼地坐起。

我终于听清了，这不是做梦，而是真的有人敲门。

我和外祖母从炕上下来时，妈妈已经起来了，先一步打开屋门。

一个细高个子进来了。

我一眼认出了爸爸。

“啊，爸爸！”我跳起来，两脚还没有落地，他就把我接住了。

爸爸来得太突然了，出乎所有人预料，所以大家都高兴坏了，都惊住了。

妈妈和外祖母过了三四分钟才醒过神，齐声问：“你怎么回来了？”

爸爸语气十分平静地回答：“回家过节。”

妈妈脸上流下两道泪水。

外祖母没说什么，转身到黑影里忙着什么。

我心里一阵难过：我们如果早一点知道爸爸赶回来多好，可怜的爸爸，没有和我们一起吃过节饭。太可惜了，今晚的事会让我们难过一辈子。

正这样想着，外祖母已经点亮了灯，端过来说：“来，咱们重新过节。……