Sunday morning and turned on the heater. A look outside revealed gray clouds, though the sun seemed as if it was trying to break through the haze. She turned on the radio while she made coffee and heard that the cool weather pattern would be continuing with even colder weather predicted. It was also a spare the air day which meant that burning wood fires was discouraged, even resulting in possible fines.
Julio stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes and stretching. He flashed Dina a sleepy smile and she saw how much he looked like the boys just then. Dina pulled down mugs for their coffee only to have Julio take them from her.
“You do this every day,” He said, filling her mug and handing it to her, before getting his own.
“Thank you.” Dina shivered, pulling her robe tighter.
They went into the living room, snuggling together on the sofa like cats. Except for the tree, Christmas decorations filled the house. Colored lights lined all the windows and the boys’ paper holiday projects from past years were pasted in every pane. Garlands draped the doorways and Christmas cards lined the bookshelves. The mantle above the fireplace displayed an assortment of Christmas mementos; a miniature nativity scene, candles, bells, Santa, elves and, of course, angels. Dina gaze fell to the fireplace. It was filled with pinecones but looked dark and cold.
“It’s ironic with this cold weather that we can’t light the fireplace,” She said with a sigh.
“Yeah,” Julio agreed, knowing that wood fires were considered one of the worst contributors to air pollution.
“The fireplace seems so lonely without light,” Dina noted.
Julio was studying the hearth when the boys burst into the room, jumping onto the sofa to join in a family cuddle. That evening, Julio called his mother to talk about her upcoming visit. She was due to fly there in a week.
“Ok Mom, I’ll be there to pick you up,” Julio assured her.
“Julio, please be on time. I don’t like waiting alone,” Gabriela said.
“What are you talking about Mom? You’ll have three new friends by the time you get off the plane,”
He teased. Gabriela was known to talk to everyone, everywhere. She was the person that people approached to ask for directions or just to chit chat on the street.
“It’s a short flight, Julio,” she scolded him.
“Ok, one new friend.”
“Thank you hijo,” Gabriela sang over the phone. “I gotta go now. Tomorrow is La Virgen de Guadalupe, you know. Mass starts at 4:45am!”
“Oh yeah,” Julio smiled as he recalled the honoring of the saint. When he was a child, his parents had taken the whole family to Mexico City to experience the pilgrimage to Basílica of Guadalupe.
Julio got off the phone and went immediately to the computer to look up Our Lady of Guadalupe services in the city. His family was in for a surprise early tomorrow morning, he thought.
To be continued December 12...
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