This is such a cute story! I love it so much, your little Dean & Sammy are SO sweet and I love your OC too! You should consider putting this on your AO3, I just saw you have one and I'm hurrying over to read your stuff there!

*crawls into a corner and sobs quietly*

It's so beautiful...

This is one if my FAVOURITE favourite fics. I dunno, I just seem to really like it. It's practically perfect! Just the kinda thing I enjoy reading. 3

Friggin hell! Just came across this tearjerker and wanted to say good job!

Oh my god I love this ! The ending almost made me cry !

I hate first person stories. I never read them. But I read this and it was wonderful! I loved the old lady; loved how you wrote her. The snarky little old lady comments. LOL All the characters were perfect! I was sad to reach the end. :( Thanks for writing!

Um yeah. Speechless yet again. This was absolutely fantastic. You gave the narrator her own unique voice, and I love that she could see past Dean's walls into his more vulnerable layers. The way you described him was perfection. Seriously, all perfection. Such a sad, sweet story.

This was just beautiful.
Wonderful story, nicely done.
Thank you for sharing your time and talent.

This is really, really good. I actually usually approach OC-narrated stories with skepticism, but you pulled this off so well, I think simply because you are a very good writer. You're good at creating rich characters in very few words, so that made Mabel a sympathetic, interesting, and enjoyable person right from the start. You gave her her own distinct voice, and that gave the story extra color. Well done.

I especially liked her reaction to seeing Dean when he's all grown up. Her being all irritated at that girl being in her seat, her 'Git,' her being kind of proud at predicting he'd grow up handsome, just all of it. And I LOVE how you write Dean. Both child and adult. The ending really got me. Especially:

"He smiles like it's nothing.
("You made Sammy happy. That's not nothing.")"

It just ties up perfectly. Stories about Dean during Sam's Stanford years are all too few, because the premise really intrigues me, and I love what you've done with it. Great story :)

What a great job, TolkienGirl! Mabel's a very enjoyable character, and you've struck a fine sentimental chord. Thanks for sharing!

Mabel was a believable, enjoyable character. It's always nice to see someone be nice to Dean. I enjoyed the story.

Very nice! I really like Mabel.

Awesome family scene without getting too angsty or too sappy! Kudos!

Oh. Oh my word. That was just...wow. I can't tell you how lovely and bittersweet and moving this was. My heart is breaking for Dean. I LOVE Mabel, though I normally don't even read outsider POV fics. You did an amazing job of creating her, giving her a distinctive voice, using the perfect phrases and analogies to bring her to life so well. Her characterization was just flawless. And Dean and Sam...I just can't bear to think about it. I teared up reading this, first because it was so moving and bittersweet, Dean doing all that to get Sammy a present and give him a good Christmas, then later, in sorrow and pain at the idea of Dean being alone on the holidays. *tears* This was so well-written and so heartbreakingly sad. I'm glad you let Dean circle back and see Mabel again all those years later, and that she took him home again and gave him some comfort. Just wonderful. I'm favoriting this and hope you write more soon (though please give my poor crying eyes a rest and give me a happy brotherly fic to read). ;)