by Billy Romp
Colby was born that fall. From the moment he came into the world, everyone loved him. Ellie and James, Colby’s father, made their home in an apartment at the farm, and not surprisingly (to her doting, devoted dad), it turned out that she was good at being a mother. The next fall, Ellie wed James—the only boyfriend she ever had—in a big, old-fashioned wedding that we held at the farm.
Ellie’s second child was due on St. Patrick’s Day 2007. The night of March 17, still heavy with child, Ellie stepped out of the shower to find a noisy fire consuming her kitchen. Still naked and barefoot from the shower, she grabbed Colby and ran through a snowstorm to reach our house a short distance away. Before Patti was off the phone with 911, Ellie was in labor.
The snow slowed down the fire engines, but the firefighters arrived in time to save the structure. Ellie and James lost everything they owned except for a fiddle, a pair of cowboy boots, and their babies. Luckily no one was injured, and the young parents have a dramatic story to tell their second son, Thomas. Thanks to the caring community in which we live, they soon had everything they needed, from clothes and food to diapers and baby stuff. (And for the umpteenth time Ellie landed on the front page of the local paper. For someone who is publicity shy, she sure finds herself in the spotlight a lot.)
Ellie and her family now have a new house. I can’t say it was easy, for her or for us, but we all helped Ellie when she finished high school, pitching in with haying and chores, and soon enough she was doing all right. The fire set her back some, but now she’s got a good start. Ellie knows how hard it is (and how lucky she is) to be a mother, and as her way of giving back she regularly helps out teenage moms in our community with a ride or a place to stay.
The boys are growing up to be just as strong and independent as their sister. Just as Ellie had her horses, Henry has his music. Seventeen now, Henry is a damn good bass player, a motorcyclist, and a wild man. Timmy is a hunter and an all-around outdoorsman. He’s thirteen, a charmer, and quite possibly the smartest of the bunch.
When Christmas on Jane Street came out, it was pretty exciting for a while. We had our fifteen minutes of fame and all that. Soon we settled back into a life in Vermont much as it was before. Every now and then someone recognizes my name and says, “Did you write that book? I loved that story!” That’s gratifying, and when it happens I smile, act shy, and try to remember to credit Wanda.
So where are we now? Eleven months of the year, Patti and I work on our farm, which was once a large dairy farm and is now a small stable and B&B, and, of course, we care for our children and grandchildren. Every year, we continue to sell Christmas trees on Jane Street. Don’t worry about my aging out of the stand; I am certain that your grandchildren will be able to buy Christmas trees from my grandchildren. Henry has assured me that he will take over the business as soon as he can, although I suspect he has a few hurdles to surmount before that day comes to pass. For the meantime, I wish a Merry Christmas to one and all!
—BILLY ROMP
NOVEMBER 2008
SALISBURY, VERMONT
Since Christmas on Jane Street was published, I have committed myself to advancing the field of sustainability and simplicity. In 2000 I formed a production company with which I have produced and hosted a nationally distributed public television series, Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska, now airing its fourth season on PBS stations nationwide (www.simplelivingtv.net). I also coauthored another book, Nothing’s Too Small to Make a Difference, which draws on the show’s themes, and I have cofounded a national nonprofit called Simple Living America (www.simplelivingamerica.org). After completing a green remodel of my midcentury brick rancher, “The Sunflower House,” I continue to make my home in Mount Airy, North Carolina, where I raise my own son named Henry. He is now eleven years old and, not surprisingly, has developed his own interest in acting and music.
—WANDA URBANSKA
NOVEMBER 2008
MOUNT AIRY, NORTH CAROLINA
About the Authors
BILLY ROMP, his wife, and their three children live in rural Salisbury, Vermont—when they’re not spreading Christmas cheer in Manhattan.
WANDA URBANSKA is the coauthor of Simple Living and Moving to a Small Town. She lives with her son in Mount Airy, North Carolina.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.
Other Books by Wanda Urbanska
Moving to a Small Town: A Guidebook for Moving from Urban to Rural America
Simple Living: One Couple’s Search for a Better Life
The Singular Generation: Young Americans in the 1980s
Copyright
HARPER
A hardcover edition of this book was published in 1998 by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
CHRISTMAS ON JANE STREET. Copyright © 1998, 2008 by Billy Romp and Wanda Urbanska. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks.
FIRST HARPER PAPERBACK PUBLISHED 2008.
The Library of Congress has catalogued the hardcover edition as follows:
Romp, Billy.
Christmas on Jane Street: a true story / Billy Romp, with Wanda Urbanska; illustrated by Robbin Gourley.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-688-16442-3
1. Christmas—New York (State)—New York. 2. New York (N.Y.)—Social life and customs. I. Urbanska, Wanda, 1956– II. Title.
GT4986.A1R65 1998
394.2663'09747—dc21
98-34905
CIP
ISBN: 978-0-06-162642-5 (pbk.)
08 09 10 11 12 ID/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
EPub Edition © MAY 2013 ISBN: 9780062296214
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