It was another cold, early winter morning. Leafless trees were laced with snow and icicles. Snow covered the roof tops of the few cars that occasionally crawled through the hazardous main road. It was an old neighborhood, where it was not uncommon to find a gas station next to a home, or a pizza place across the street. Grandmother's house was on the corner. The front of her house faced the main road, and the right side of her house faced a quiet street. The neighborhood seemed vacant, and most were still in bed.

B E A U T I F U L    Winter Scene (Courtesy of Ivy Maruskha)

Only the neighbor's snowman dared to stand outside. Grandmother recalled how the children across the quiet street had made him the day before. Noisy and joyful they were, living their childhood years as most children do. She would watch the children play from her living room window. These children were a gift to grandmother, for they added cheer to her evenings--evenings which would otherwise seem gloomy at times, as the sun was quick to set in the short, winter days..

The snowman seemed to have a life of its own, yet he stood there all alone. He was very quiet. And standing there he was, just as he was the day before, alive, yet frozen in time.

The chilling wind was fresh, but after some time outside, walking into the warm house felt very comforting. Grandmother came in quickly through the back door, carrying some fire wood. The warm fireplace sent chills up grandmother's spine.

"Cookie will be coming any minute now, Barney," said grandma. Cookie was their grand-daughter. She was five. Grandfather was of a quiet temperament, though sometimes he was prone to break the silence. This time he did not utter a word. He understood what grandmother was implying, and put out his sweet pipe. Then he opened the windows for some time, to clear the unhealthy, dirty smoke.

Barney walked back to his office room, and lo and behold! There on his desk was a beautifully wrapped birthday gift! Beth had silently followed him into the room and she smiled as he turned his head. Grandfather was surprised, because the last time they celebrated his birthday had been twelve years ago. As he got older, it seemed there was no longer a reason to celebrate.

"Gee, Beth. You didn't have to do that. But thanks," he said. A few days earlier, Barney's watch had broken. It had given Beth a good reason to celebrate Barney’s birthday. Grandfather quickly opened his gift.

"You bought me a watch?!” asked Barney.

"Yeah, don't you like it? It's the same watch I showed you in the newspaper advertisement. You said it looked good."

"Yeah, but I didn't know you were getting it for me."

"Well, of course I was getting it for you. Who did you think I was getting it for? Yours broke, didn't it?"

"Yeah, but I can get it fixed. Besides, I love the watch I have. I've had it for twenty years, and I don't want to change it now. I'm use to the one I already have. I hope you kept the receipt. Maybe they'll take it back."

In a faint, disappointed tone, grandmother stuttered, "Yeah, I kept it." She looked a little nervous.

"Oh now c'mon! You don't have to take this personally. It's a nice watch. Really it is."

The morning passed on and grandmother overcame her disappointment. She started preparing her special home-made pizza for lunch. The aroma from the kitchen was rather pleasant.

The doorbell rang. It was their son and daughter-in-law. The grandparents were very happy to see little Cookie. They sat comfortably in the living room and enjoyed the late morning.

Then quite abruptly, Cookie marched over to grandfather, and took out a little plastic container from her pocket. "Happy birthday, Grandpa!" she cried. Grandpa was quite amused. As were the rest of them. No-one had told her that it was grandpa's birthday--not even her parents.

Grandfather was already delighted.

"Where did you get that from, you little munchkin?!"

"Daddy said it was your birthday today. So I got this from the store. Do you like it?"

It so happened that Cookie had overheard a conversation that her daddy had with her mother; she had found out about grandpa's birthday. She had gotten a little something with a quarter from the machine at the store where they had stopped along the way. Her parents had not seen her cranking the toy machine. Had they seen her, they would have stopped her, for it was common knowledge that grandfather did not like to celebrate birthdays anymore.