The Spirit of Giving: A Caskett Christmas Story
Chapter 1 - A Young Couple
Kate Castle put away her small piggy bank after counting what she had been saving when she had extra from tips. Married in her sophomore year of college, she had eloped at the end of her that year with her high school sweetheart, Rick Castle. Both had known each other since middle school and had become sweethearts in high school. But then tragedy struck both of their lives. Rick lost his mother to cancer and being an only child whose father was not present, Rick was truly alone. Then Kate lost her mother to murder and her father to alcoholism as a result that loss, so she too was alone in the world.
Her father's alcoholism and mental health deterioration had caused her to place him in a mental health facility which was expensive. Fortunately, her grandparent's brown stone that her father had inherited now came to her and she rented it out in order to pay for her father's extended treatment. The small basement studio to the brownstone became their studio apartment. Kate did get insurance money from her mother's death, but she was using that as an emergency reserve, which occasionally she tapped into for tuition fees. She always made sure to quickly paid it back and keep that account healthy.
Though they were financially disadvantaged, the couple had each other for support, and they had married so they could be with each other for life. With the death of their mothers and Kate's father succumbing to alcohol abuse, they had no immediate family but themselves to count on for help. They applied for a marriage license and had a civil wedding at the NYC courtyard, done by a city Judge. It seemed a natural course for them as they had been together for some time and could not imagine being with anyone else.
They had little in terms of material things, but for the small basement studio apartment of Kate's family brownstone. They lived in the small studio and filled it with love, a joy for life, and support for each other. She was part-time waitressing using her salary to get her thru NYU where she wanted to graduate with a Degree in Criminal Psychology. That degree would qualify her to enter the Police Academy. She had switch her course from Pre-law to Criminal Psych after the death of her mother. Her goal now was to become a homicide detective and solve the murder case of her mother that was ruled a gang related murder. Still, Kate knew better, the case was a homicide but was not a gang murder. She was sure of this and vowed one day to prove it by solving the case.
Rick was also at NYU for a English Literature Degree, and worked part time as a junior associate copy editor for a New York News Journal. Both their jobs were barely enough to pay for their needs and school tuitions, but they were making it. Rick wanted eventually to work as a full time Writer/Columnist for his paper, but also wanted to write novels on the side. Although they had a lot of financial struggles, they were happy and being together as man and wife had sustained them. Theirs was a union of love and mutual support with neither of them ever imagining going thru life without the other as a partner.
Rick was the first to come home that evening and then checked to see what he could make for their dinner. He found their small refrigerator almost bare, as it's meger contents being some veggies, half loaf of bread, milk, half a stick of butter, and four eggs. He decides to check the shelves for a can of soup, or beans, anything to make a dinner and finds a packet of ramen noodles. Yes, he could add veggies, throw in an egg, and make a good egg drop soup with toasted bread on the side . Just as he was preparing to make their modest evening meal, Kate arrives after finishing her shift, and is carrying a bag from the restaurant.
She sees Rick getting ready to make dinner and says, "I have some items from the restaurant. Things left uneaten but not boxed for carry out. It's amazing how wasteful people can be with food."
"I was getting ready to make an egg drop soup with noodles and veggies with toast. That's all we have for a dinner."
"I was gonna go to the grocery, but was too tired to do so, but these takeouts can add to our soup. I did good on tips today, got more then $40 tonight."
Thank God for being a waitress, tips always supplemented their income.
"So what do you have to go with our soup?"
"Well a single dad ordered a hamburger for his son, and then the boy didn't want it, so he ordered something else, but did not want to box the burger. Mel told me to just box it and take it home. Then another person ordered the taco dinner combo but could not eat the second taco, having finished all the beans and rice with it, and the chips before the meal, so I boxed that one also."
"I hate how we have to struggle with food and expenses", says Rick.
She comes up to her husband to give him an affectionate peck to the lips and a small embrace.
"Just a small hurdle Rick. When I am a detective and you a published author, we will think back to these times and be thankful that the universe provided. We are not on food stamps and manage to get by, but we have each other and for that I am happy. Besides, I'll go food shopping tomorrow before class and fill the frig. Pay checks come in on Friday, so we are a day off from that."
That is how it is for them, living paycheck to paycheck.
"You're right", he says and returns to his wife a kiss to her lips and then finishes, "I love you".
"I love you more", she replies back to him and then gives him a more affectionate hug to respond to his kiss.
They had few things for their small basement studio. It was furnished with a sofa bed with an end table, a small TV on a stand, and a card table with folding chairs as their dining table. They had a small writing table off to the side, a leftover from Kate's parents' items. She had sold most of her parents' furniture when she moved her dad to the health facility.
Their kitchenette had a small electric burner, mini-frig, microwave and toaster-oven. They had a small closet for their clothes, but had picked up a hanging cabinet from the streets which someone put out for disposal. It was in good shape when Rick noticed it, and with the truck borrowed from Mel, Kate's boss, had recovered the cabinet, which Rick then refinished and made it look new.
Kate's boss, Mel Sandoval, is an elder age married man and had been like a older brother to the couple, always there to help. Mel and his wife, Rita, had started out much like Kate and Rick, so they always helped the young couple when they could. They had both known Mel since middle school. Their parents frequented the restaurant that Mel owned and even had celebrated their birthdays there. When a waitress job came open, Kate took it starting after her junior year in high school.
Rick finished making the soup and then set out two bowls, filling each, and then adding the utensils and glasses to their setting on the card /dinette table. He filled a glass of milk for himself, but Kate just wanted ice water. He pulled the takeouts from their microwave and set them on plates next to the soup filled bowls. Then he got the toast from the toaster-oven. Kate emerges from their small bathroom, already dressed for sleep. They sit down for their evening meal.
"So, how was your day, Kate?", asks Rick.
"I aced my Criminal Forensics course", she tells him.
"Great, that means you are maintaining your 3.4 GPA. Keep it up and you could graduate with a Cum Laude, or Magna Cum Laude, honors. Good credentials for the Police Academy."
"That's why I am studying hard to maintain my GPA. How were things with your day?"
"The Editor in Chief likes my work and says once I get my degree that a full time assistant editor position is mine to have. That will be a significant salary increase. But also, I can use my free time on the job to finish my novel."
"I want to get you a lap top so you don't have to use the office computer or go to the college library to use a computer."
"I'm fine, besides, I can use my mother's gift pen to write my novels the old fashioned way."
Rick's mother had given him an expensive gold Mont Blanc pen when he graduated high school to encourage him to complete his goal of becoming a published author. So Rick had indeed hand written a lot of his novel when he could not get a computer to use for his writings. He would then transcribe his hand written chapters to digital format.
"Besides", Rick says, "we can't afford a lap top right now."
"But it would not just be for you, I could use it too, and we both would not have to spend such long hours in the college library because we waited for a computer to be free so we could use it."
"Kate, we are managing to get by without a computer, besides, we could use the money for more critical needs. Our utility bills have increased significantly over the last months, it is winter after all. In fact, Christmas is about a month and a half away."
Despite what Rick said, Kate had been putting aside some of her tip money, hoping to buy a lap top computer for Rick for his Christmas gift this year. Last year, their Christmas gift as a couple, had been the small TV. It provided them some 'at home' entertainment. Dates out on the town was a luxury they could skip with a good TV to entertain them during down times. Although, if their income allowed, they always did a night out on the town. So Kate had been counting her savings and was close to having enough money for Rick's Christmas gift this year.
After dinner, they watched a little TV, catching the latest news, and then "Dancing with the Stars". Then they got ready for bed, making their sofa into a bed by pulling out the folding frame with the mattress. They read for a while in bed, each reading a text book for their latest subject. As they finished their reading, each put aside their text book. As she opened the drawer of their end stand, to place her text book in, Kate pulled out a watch and looked at it. It was her father's, now not working so well as he had damaged it one time in a drunken stupor. It was a gift to him from her mother.
So Kate took the watch for safe keeping but also to remind her of her father's love for her and her mother. It was for Kate a symbol of better times . She wanted eventually fix the watch, but it was a Swiss classic and all gold. The wrist band was gold, but a few links now scratched and dented when it got damaged and the inner clockworks needed maintenance. The cost for all that was equal to a moderately expensive designer watch. So the watch had remained in sorry shape until money could be saved to fix it.
"You should get that watch repaired Kate, it means so much to you."
"Well that is truly an expense we can put off. At least a laptop serves a good purpose and can help us both with classwork, and in writing your novel."
"One day I will make enough so we can fix that watch and you can wear it as a reminder of your father when he was well."
"That will not be in the near future my husband. As you pointed out, winter is upon us and we will need to buy heating oil."
"Yes, but our upstairs tenants will do a 70-30 split with us on the heating costs,"
"They will, but we need to come up with our 30%. How's our home heating fund coming?"
"Half of your tip money from tonight will put us over what we need."
With that Kate split her tip money. The half she kept would go for groceries. Such was their life. Each penny accounted for and spent wisely. Still, Kate had managed to save for her husband's Christmas gift. She could always make the excuse that the lap top was for both of them, but in reality, Rick would use it most of the time. Kate however was determined to give her husband a good gift this Christmas.
Unbeknownst to Kate, Rick also was saving for her Christmas gift. He would get her father's watched repaired so she could wear it every day. Rick had seen Kate's look when she viewed the watch. It brought back happy memories for her and she glowed from that feelings of recalling those past memories. He loved to see her with that glow and wanted her to experience it on a daily basis.
So he had taken an additional job once a week teaching english as a second language to new immigrants now trying to make a life here in the city. Kate did not know this, he simply passed it on to her as a group study day when he left early that day . He taught the class from three to four thirty every Wednesday, on his day off from work. The course location was at the NYU adult education center. That allowed him to teach the class before he attended his own early evening class. So the timing worked out great for his schedule. It was good extra money and allowed Rick to have some discretionary income not known to Kate so he could save for her gift this Christmas. He too was planning a great surprise for her during this another Christmas together as man and wife.