Gramps Talks About Jesus

By Frank Tworek

The teenaged girl often asked her grandfather about the stories he shared regarding a ferocious snowstorm that had paralyzed the city in 1975. She was eager to hear more about it because that was the year of her own mother’s birth. Her grandfather decided that the events might have more meaning if he were to take the girl for a ride in the car to actually show her the routes and locations of his experiences during that winter weekend.

While they drove through the city their conversation about a pregnant couple’s journey evolved into a deep discussion about another pregnant couple making their way to Bethlehem several thousand years ago. By the time the car ride was over, the young lady had not only discovered more about her own family history, she had also intensified her curiosity about the life and death of Jesus.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jan 22, 2020
• ISBN: 9781728343389

Frank Tworek

Frank Tworek, Ph.D., is a retired biology teacher in the Omaha Public Schools. He spent 43 years teaching--and learning from--countless adolescent students. His life and beliefs have been further shaped by his relationships with his wife, their three children and spouses, and seven grandkids. His leisure time activities include fishing, gardening and woodworking.

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© 2020 Frank Tworek. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 01/16/2020

ISBN: 978-1-7283-4328-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-4338-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020901214

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Prologue

1 You are Pregnant!

2 Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow……!

3 Another Little Side Trip

4 It’s Time

5 Hit the Road, and Just Keep Going

6 Coming of Age

7 The Messenger

8 Serenity during Turmoil

9 Family Matters

10 The Sacrifice

11 Digging Out

12 Where Do We Go Now?

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

for

Evelyn Marie

PROLOGUE

This is a fictional story about a grandfather’s conversation with his teenage granddaughter. This conversation never happened. But the events they talk about? Well, they are talking about people, places and things that are grounded in history.

So is this book trying to mislead you? Or, worse yet, is this book lying to you? It all depends on your perspective. This story is intended to be entertainment. That’s what fiction is all about. I hope you enjoy it. But don’t try to use it as a reference in a history report. Instead, you should let this story stimulate your imagination and spark your curiosity enough to do some real research into the historical evidence that is out there. The Omaha Blizzard of 1975 really happened. And Jesus Christ really walked this Earth. Find out what you can learn about the actual events.

In the meantime, however, sit back and enjoy a story of an old man’s conversation with one of his beloved grandkids.

1

You are Pregnant!

AS HIS SUV slowly rumbled up the old brick pavement on Castelar Street, Gramps pulled over to the curb. He stared ahead at the 1890’s house across the alley and said: You know…, this is where it all began.

Today he was finally keeping the promise he made to the girl several years earlier that he would take her for a ride along the entire route he had traveled during the famous Blizzard of ’75.

Grandma was pregnant, wasn’t she? the teen inquired.

Yes. This is where we lived in those days. Me, Grandma, and your Mom. Of course, your mother hadn’t been born yet—she was living inside Grandma. Man, we were so ready to see her. The due date was only three weeks away. The previous months had been filled with preparation and excitement. Only one month earlier we had taken a bus on 16th Street to go Christmas shopping Downtown.

What was so special about that shopping trip that makes you remember it after all these years?

Oh, wow, how can I describe all of the feelings that are woven together in that one December day? he reflected aloud. Well, first of all, it was the pregnancy. You know, your Mom was coming soon. We were beyond ourselves with excitement.

So pregnancy is really fun, right?

More fun for the guy! Grandma did all the work! But like I said, we were so excited. Christmas was a few weeks away, and then only one more month to go before your Mom would be born. It had seemed like such a long time coming. Really, for several years it seemed that the world was filled with people who were having babies that they did not plan for, and they did not necessarily want, while we dreamed of the day we would be parents. I tell you, when the good news came that she was on the way, we were thrilled. Hey, look up at that window on the second floor of our old house—the window that is high above the alley that goes right next to the house—that room was the nursery.

Ooh, that’s kinda scary.

You’re not kidding! I could tell you stories about that room—and about that window—that would make your hair stand up, but let’s get back to the December shopping trip. With Grandma being seven and a half months pregnant that Saturday morning, we boarded the city bus for the last time we would ever take a Downtown shopping excursion.

Serious? That was the last time you ever did that?

Yep. You see, as time went on, shopping became so much easier at the malls that had replaced the Downtown merchants. First was The Center Mall. Then Crossroads. And Westroads. By the end of 1974, Downtown shopping was in its final stages of decline. But not for us that day! We had so much fun.

Hold on, Gramps. We all know you hate shopping. Why did you have so much fun that day?

Oh, Kiddo, it was just too romantic—like a scene from an old 1940’s movie.

What?

Here was this young couple (kinda young to be married), expecting our first baby (kinda young to be parents), shopping for Christmas gifts (kinda penniless to be shopping), wandering through the Downtown stores amid holiday music and sparkly decorations. For a time we were in a magical land that had no connection to reality. We walked from store to store through tunnels under the streets, and we didn’t even know it was snowing outside until we saw other customers arriving with snow-covered hats and scarves and coats. It was a winter wonderland when we finally headed for home. A clerk at the last store gave me a big, black bag to put all of our packages in, and off we trudged toward the bus stop. Huge snowflakes accumulated on our eyelashes and my beard. I must have looked just like Santa with that giant bag of treasures slung over my shoulder. We climbed on that bus and cuddled together to get warm, and we laughed and laughed and laughed all the way home. Like I said, it was just so much fun.

So that’s it? That was the big blizzard you were telling me about?

Oh, no! The December shopping trip was just the teaser. Nature’s way to set us up. The whole experience was a part of the tingly feeling of anticipation. Getting ready for Christmas, you know, the whole scene of Advent, the preparation for the birth of the baby. The rush of the Lamaze classes. We were getting so ready.

So when was the blizzard?

January 10, 1975. And it all started right here. He took the SUV out of ‘Park’ and crept forward up the hill until he was right in front of the old house. See those old steps coming down from the house? Well, I remember the two of us tentatively working our way down those awful, slick steps that snowy morning. Of course, it was still dark out—we always had to leave for work early enough for me to take her out to 90th & Dodge to the office where she worked, and then I would backtrack a bit to get to my school at 46th & Miranda.

"Did you know a blizzard was coming?

No way. It was just a typical Friday morning, last day of the workweek. We were expecting a restful weekend, what with only 3 weeks left in the pregnancy, and as we drove to work we talked of how nice it would be to sleep late in the morning.

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He put the transmission into ‘Drive’ and slowly pulled away from the house. He decided to drive along all of the streets that he drove that day long ago in order to give his granddaughter an experience that could bring the stories to life. He turned left at the top of the hill and proceeded on the journey. As they worked their way westward across the city, their conversation stretched into a captivating dialogue about the Nativity.

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Hey, Gramps, since you and Grandma were having a baby around the time of Christmas, did you ever wonder what it must have been like for Joseph and Mary as they looked forward to the birth of their little baby?

Oh, my, how different those times were! What do you mean?

Okay, let’s start at the very beginning. Imagine what it must have been like to be Mary. I mean, just try to think of your own life and how it feels right now to be fourteen years old. When Mary was fourteen, she had lived an eventful life up to that point. She had loving parents and good friends. She had developed into a bright young lady and she had her entire future ahead of her. Then one day, out of the blue, an angel comes to her and makes an announcement: ‘Mary, you are pregnant.’ Just try to picture the look on her face!

OMG! No way!

I know, right? Mary must have stumbled for words as she found herself overwhelmed with confusion. Not exactly the kind of news a fourteen-year-old expects to be hit with. No, so much different from your Grandma and myself when we found out we were going to become parents. We were thrilled beyond belief. But Mary? Oh, man, she couldn’t even make sense of it.

So what did she say? What did she do?

"Well, her confusion morphed into disbelief. She blurted out, ‘How can that even be