On a slumbering street in the heart of the city , an alarm clock breaks the silent stillness of a darkened bedroom. An elderly man wipes the sleep from his eyes as he slowly rises from his bed , gently touching the woman that lays next to him, he tenderly brushes the hair that curls around her face and softly kisses her forehead, not wanting to disturb her as she had been up half the night preparing food for the holiday.

He stretches and muffles a yawn as he makes his way to the window .Opening the blinds a sliver , he looks out to see that the road and sidewalk have been covered by a slow steady fall of snow. The flurries swirl and dance at the whim of the wind as they make their descent.It looks like the weather is going to be a little rough today, he quietly said to himself.

Putting on a robe he makes his way downstairs to the kitchen, he turns the radio on as he prepares coffee, he has done this countless times as part of his daily routine, he carefully measures the amount , today we are going to make this extra strong, he mumbles to himself , as he fills the holding cup of the old percolator, no fancy Coffee maker for him, he enjoys the sound and the aroma of the old fashion way of making a good cup of coffee, he sits down on an old tufted kitchen chair , made of red vinyl and chrome metal ,it is a antique just like himself, he dials in the news channel and listens intently as the newscaster reports the news, there had been a plane crash at the Philadelphia airport this morning, the airliner was on its way to Washington D.C., when it crashed during take off, flight 517 had gone down with no survivors. What a tragedy he thought to himself ,many of these people were probably on their way home for the holidays.What a sad day it would be for their loved ones. The news stopped for a commercial break with the promise of the weather forecast coming up next.

Snow has been in the forecast for a few days but nothing like this blizzard was expected. The announcer went on to report that in some suburban areas the storm had blanketed roads with three foot drifts.

The news had presented somewhat of a concern to him, as today was the 24Th of December, and their children were coming home for Christmas .His son called last night saying that he and his family were either gonna ski over or take the dog sled. That was our Tim, always quick with a joke . Their son had been a happy go lucky sort, he thought back over the years and could only recount a few times when Tim did not have a smile on his face. There was a Christmas where we had brought him a dog, a Bichon, it was the first pet our family ever had. Tim and the dog were inseparable but after several years had passed the little dog had died in its sleep, Tim came walking into our room carrying the dog in his arms and sobbing inconsolable.

The sound of the coffee percolating snapped the old man from his thoughts, he carefully poured the steaming liquid into the cup, the aroma rising, he added just a dash of cream and stirred it slowly as he thought of his daughter .His daughter and her family were supposed to be coming in from New York by rail, surely the trains should be running. His hopes were dashed somewhat by the news report on the radio that all transportation would be delayed .Trains, buses and the airport were all having severe delays or shut down all together. New York had especially been hit very hard.

He went to the window and saw the landscape turned into a blind whiteout, the windows crystallized and frosted over. It had been a cold snowy day like this when his wife had given birth to their daughter Martha. They slowly made their way to the hospital in a old pick up truck that had seen better days , but back then money was hard to come by, he and his wife had started a business , a coffee shop and they were barely breaking even, but even so those times were always remembered as the good old days.

Martha was born on a Thursday at four in the morning, He remembered his wife sitting up in the hospital bed holding her in her arms , she was small and dainty and wrapped in a blanket , he sat down on the bed in amazement and put his arm around his wife and looked into the eyes of this beautiful child and she smiled at him.But things had taken a turn for the worse, Martha was very sick and had to stay in the hospital for weeks, it was touch and go with their first born and they had spent many a night at the hospital, until finally they were able to take her home.

As the years passed their business began to prosper, everyone chipped in to help, the children would often be behind the counter helping out when it was busy or doing their homework when it was slow.As the kids grew older and went to college , we made it clear to them that they were not obligated to stay with the business but they could pursue any interest that made them happy. Martha did especially well in school and we knew that it would only be a matter of time before she spread her wings and left , she had a talent for numbers and figures, she certainly did not take after me he thought, I was always a daydreamer and one who fantasizes.He remembered how torn and distraught his daughter was when she graduated and received a job offer from a prestigious investment firm in New York , but my wife and I could never hold our daughter back we encouraged her to follow her dream and that she would have our full support. I remember when she left there was a hole in my heart, I thought that I was hiding it from my wife but she knew , she knows me like a book.

Time had passed by so quickly ! Could it really be almost twenty years that Martha called and told us that she was bringing home someone that she wanted us to meet. Her husband Mike worked in the same department as Martha, he was very quiet and somewhat laid back . But my wife's large extended Italian family made short work of him, just as it had done with me. It was not long before he was talking with his hands and laughing with his heart.

What a beautiful bride she was , there could not have been a more happier day, I thought back over my life and could not believe that it would have led up to that day. How time passes so quickly , and today it was Christmas Eve morn ,and if all went to plan, Martha , Mike and their children would be coming in from New York on the metro liner. We only lived ten blocks from 30Th street station and as was my custom I would meet them at the station.

Here it is another Christmas upon us , another year that has passed, and though I am a little forgetful nowadays, I remember every Christmas that I have known.

next chapter 30Th STREET STATION