How We Celebrate Christmas Eve- Part 1

I have two sisters. 

This is Emily. You will meet Stephanie in a forthcoming post.

 
Why is she holding a sign with her name on it, you ask?


Please allow me to tell you.

This is the Princeton Amtrak station.  Emily spent the past couple of days in Chicago-Land with her boyfriend and his family.  She decided to ride the train back home to save some gas.  She texted me last night to let me know that she needed picked up at the station at 9:20 a.m.  Ewww.  Now, normally that is not early, but since my sisters have been home, we have been staying up very late. Very. Late.  So, being up and driving 45 minutes at that time of the morning did not sound appealing. Stephanie and Steve (her man) and I decided that someone else (meaning my dad) could go and pick up the littlest B.

But then we got an idea.

Why not use this opportunity to play a prank?  After making a plan that involved a prank with this sign, we all (Katie, Steph, and Steve) decided that we were in, even if it meant that we were only going to get a few hours of sleep.

So what did we do?  We made a sign, similar to the kind people hold when they are picking up someone they don't know at the airport.  We drove to the Amtrak station early.  And we planned to find a friendly looking stranger, introduce ourselves, and ask them to hold this sign while standing on the platform when the train pulled in.  During which time, Steph, Steve, and I would stand inside the depot.  And look through the windows. And laugh at Emily's confusion.

However, apparently when it is cold, people wait in their cars, not on the platform. There were no friendly strangers to ask.

Plan #2- Steve happened to buy a welding mask yesterday.  This is the welding mask:

We wanted Steve to put on his mask, hold the sign, and stand on the platform while waiting for Emily.
He refused.  I am not sure why.

So we just decided to wait and pick her up in the normal old boring way.

But the Christmas angels smiled upon us, and in walked a nice older couple and a young man.  Then we realized that we knew them- I went to grade school with the guy.  They were there to pick up his sister, also coming in from Chicago.  We chatted and caught up and eventually he asked, "So, you are picking up your sister...what's with the sign?"  Being the dorks that we are, we explained the original idea.  Without even a pause he said, "I'm in! I'll totally hold it for you!" Just then, we heard the train whistle.

I should also tell you that my friend from grade school has grown very tall, was wearing a lime green puffy parka, and has a long, full, dark beard.


So he stood on the platform with the sign, as we crowded around the windows inside the lobby to watch.  Steve had the camera, and we hoped to catch it all on film (or actually an SD card).


It was awesome.

Emily departed the train.  She told us later that she saw the sign, thought it said her name, and decided to ignore it, because the guy holding it was freaky looking.  She kept walking, looking for her family, and after not finding us and deciding that the sign did indeed say her name, slowly walked up the the strange man.

He promptly said, "You must be Emily.  We are your ride.  Your family didn't have time to pick you up."  Her face looked something like the photo above.

At this point, we were all laughing so hard, and we didn't want her to think that she was about to be kidnapped, so we came out on the platform.  Hilarious.

However, the live action movie that we tried to film through the glass lobby windows did not turn out.  Epic fail.  Don't worry though, the moment is forever etched into our hearts.

More Christmas stories to come.