Jan, Kelly and Cindy talk about their ski trip to White Pines Resort.
Kelly ran upstairs to her bathroom and refreshed her make-up and hair. She hurried back downstairs, and after grabbing her jacket and scarf, went into the den where her father was sitting at his desk.
"Hi, Dad," she greeted, kissing his cheek, and then pulling on her jacket.
"Oh, hi, honey," he replied. "Where are you off to?"
"Choir practice."
Mr. Carlson nodded and looked at his watch.
"Oh my, I didn't realize it was nearly seven already."
"How's the sermon coming?" asked Kelly.
"I seem to be having writer's block. I can't seem to come up with the next paragraph."
Kelly wound her scarf around her neck and said, "Well, you always tell me that when I hit a brick wall I should pray about it and then sleep on it."
He grinned and nodded, "Yes, you're right. That's what I'll do. Have fun at choir practice."
Kelly drove to St. Mark's church where her father was the minister. She loved sitting in a pew on Sundays and listening to his sermons. They were always inspiring and encouraging.
Her father, Bill Carlson, hadn't always been a minister of a church. When he was younger, he was a vice president of Carlson Hotels, a large corporation of hotel chains all over the world. His father, Richard Carlson, had expected all three of his children to become the next generation of managers for the family business. But his oldest son, Bill, had felt a pull to do something more meaningful with his life. He left the family business when Kelly was three so he could spend more time with his own family and pursue his goal. After studying at the seminary, he became the pastor of St. Mark's Church over 15 years ago and never regretted leaving the hotel business. He was still somewhat wealthy because of all the stock he owned in the Carlson business, but they lived on his modest salary in an upscale middle-class home in Westfield, New Hampshire.
At the church, the choir director, Mr. Jackson, began rehearsing the choir with warm-up exercises. He instructed them to take out their sheet music for Handel’s Messiah and they began to rehearse. Soon, he stopped them to correct the alto section.
"That entire segment must be forte, altos! Let's try it again!"
Mr. Jackson was a thin man with glasses and a balding head. He raised his arms and told the organist where to begin playing.
Kelly had rehearsed her part during the week, so she knew it by heart. She loved music and had ambitions of someday being a music director at a church…perhaps even at St. Mark's. Singing and playing piano were two of her favorite things to do. She also loved art, which had made choosing a college major difficult. She planned to spend an extra year getting two Bachelor's degrees in art and music at Westfield University where she attended classes.
Mr. Jackson scowled in appraisal of the choir’s performance. He had ambitiously chosen Handel’s' Messiah as their feature piece for Christmas, but was obviously having second thoughts. But by the time rehearsal ended, their performance was much improved.
Kelly drove back home after choir practice through gently falling snow. Christmas was only two weeks away, and it looked as if there would be plenty of snow on Christmas Day. Although she missed her mom, she had many great memories of Christmas Day with her mom and her family, and she still felt a tingle of excitement when the holiday approached.
Kelly pulled into the driveway and parked her car in the garage. Entering the house through the kitchen door, Daisy greeted her, jumping up and down excitedly. Kelly rubbed the dog’s head affectionately, and then went to the den and told her dad about choir practice. She said she was going up to her room to get ready for bed. Her father asked her to sit down for a minute.
"Kelly, I want to talk with you about your trip on Thursday. I'm confident that you can take care of yourself. I wouldn't have given you the trip if I didn't think so. But there is safety in numbers, so I want your promise that you'll stay with your friends at all times."
Kelly nodded, "Of course I will, Dad."
"And one other thing," he continued, "When you return to your hotel room at the end of the day, I want you to call me... no matter how late it is….because I won't sleep a wink until you do."
She chuckled, "Okay, Dad. I'll call you. Promise!"
He nodded satisfactorily. She put her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Goodnight!" she said and went up to her room.
Posters of her favorite rock groups decorated the walls, and on her bedroom mirror was a photo of her boyfriend, Keith. They had dated since their junior year at high school. Although they were going steady, they both vowed to finish college before taking their relationship to the next level. Keith was an engineering student at Westfield University, and they usually dated on weekends along with Jan and Cindy's dates, Jim and Dave, who were both crazy and lots of fun. Keith was on the Westfield University ice hockey team, the Falcons, and some weekends they all went to cheer for him and the team.
As she lay in bed that night, she couldn't sleep. All she could think about was the forthcoming trip on Thursday morning. After spending three days at the ski resort, Jan and Cindy would take the train back to Westfield, and Kelly would take the train to New York City. Her father would meet her at Grand Central station and together they would visit with her grandparents until December 23.
She recalled last year when she visited Rockefeller Center and went ice skating. She remembered the beautifully decorated storefront windows and the busy shopping crowds. She loved staying at the plush and spacious apartment where her grandparents lived in the penthouse at Carlson Towers in downtown Manhattan near Central Park. It was going to be a great Christmas!