Christmas Eve

The story began with words from a wise man - in this case, Inquirer columnist Acel Moore. Acel was telling me how, in some Philadelphia neighborhoods, folks don't get their Christmas money until Christmas Eve. Many get paid in cash. Others rush with their check to the bank or the check-cashing store and thence to their last-minute shopping. "People don't realize how many folks live like this," Acel said. His words spurred both conflict and nostalgia. Conflict because Acel's right: A lot of people don't know a thing about the side of life where you go from check to check, where you have exactly one night of shopping - the last night - to give your kids the biggest day of the year.

With a trimmed tree to warm her spirits and a boiling pot of water to heat her apartment, Marie Rivera was all set for Christmas yesterday morning. Then came the unexpected voice through the door. "Fire department. We need to take a look around. " Minutes later, Rivera was in tears, trembling, as she, her five children, and more than 25 other tenants who rented spaces in a pair of rat-infested, dilapidated apartment buildings in downtown Chester were facing Christmas Eve without a place to stay.

A North Philadelphia man was found guilty yesterday of killing an off-duty police officer and a woman after a botched robbery at a bar on Christmas Eve. After deliberating for about six hours, a jury convicted Ronald Gibson, 22, of two counts of first-degree murder. It also found him guilty of robbery and two counts of conspiracy. The prosecution is seeking the death penalty for the murders of Fredrick P. Dukes, 45, and Vernae Nixon, 31. The jury today will hear testimony before deciding on a sentence.

As she had done just about every morning for decades, last Christmas Eve 89-year-old Marie Sippel walked out of her home in Holmesburg in time to attend St. Dominic's 8 a.m. Mass. Afterward, she was going to attend a Christmas party in the rectory. Nearby that same morning, Edward McGuckin was putting his 7-year-old daughter in his Chevy Blazer to drop the child at an aunt's house before going to work. As was her routine, Sippel walked from her home on the 8000 block of Christian Street to Rhawn Street, then headed west to Frankford Avenue to catch the Route 66 bus. From there, it was a one-mile ride to the church where she had been a volunteer for 20 years.

At 10:15 p.m. Tuesday, Christmas Eve, the Rev. Nancy Muth will pull a string and change the face of the Chelten Avenue business district. The sidewalk ceremony will tear the faux gift-wrapping off a stained-glass gem - a Tiffany rose window long hidden from view - at First Presbyterian Church of Germantown. The church has spent $50,000 to uncover and restore the century-old window and add a fiber-optic lighting system to illuminate it for passersby every night. "You still can't see it from in the church," Ms. Muth said.

As there was little more they could do for Vicky DeJesus, and as her family had requested it, the hospital on Christmas Eve sent her home to die. She was carried past the artificial Christmas tree in the kitchen and up the twisting stairs to the sunny room on the third floor of their North Philadelphia apartment. There she was laid beneath a picture of Christ and a greeting card that proclaimed: "Home for the Holidays. " Four days later, on Monday, at 7:15 p.m. she stopped breathing.

A hearing is scheduled for today at the Montgomery County Youth Center for a 17-year-old borough resident charged with shooting a teenager in the head while playing with a gun Christmas Eve. The victim, Rashaan Mims, 17, of the 1000 block of Willow Street, died after he was removed from life support at Hahnemann University Hospital about 4 p.m. Christmas Day, County Coroner Halbert E. Fillinger Jr. said. Accompanied by a relative, the 17-year-old who allegedly fired the gun turned himself in to law-enforcement authorities about 11 a.m. Christmas Day, police said.

And lo, on Christmas Eve, a thousand Jews returned to Egypt (the dance club, not the country) to celebrate the Matzoball (the gathering, not the food). They came from Delaware, New Jersey, and all regions of Pennsylvania. They came looking for the one. Or at least the one right now. Christmas Eve has become the biggest Jewish singles night of the year. In Philadelphia alone there were three events - the Matzoball at Egypt on Columbus Boulevard, the "To Life" party at World Fusion, and the Bridges Chinese banquet at the Kingdom of Vegetarians restaurant in Chinatown.

Today, Rita Gizzio will have her work cut out for her. She will be preparing and cooking fish - lots of it. Each year on Dec. 24, or la vigilia, Italian Americans serve the traditional seven-fish dinner, the non-meat meal that represents abstinence before the Christmas celebration. It seems no one is absolutely sure how the tradition started. As with many traditions, its origins have become shrouded with the passing of time. But for every Italian, there is a different theory why seven fish dishes are prepared for the pre-Christmas feast.

Forget Black Friday. That's for the amateur shopper. Time abounds and the sales are great. Shopping on Christmas Eve, though, is for the brave soul. It ranks up there with Hercules and his 12 labors. But despite well-intentioned promises to hit the stores earlier, year after year last-minute shoppers pack the malls the day before Christmas. Here are the stories of some who survived the Christmas Eve rush: 8:30 a.m. Cherry Hill Mall's parking lot is more than three-quarters full.

Hello there Heather and Steve met in junior English at West Chester East High School in 2002 and got to know each other in an after-school Christian youth group called Young Life. That's also where Heather noticed Steve's wonderful sense of humor and contagious smile. "I had my eye on him," Heather confesses. "She didn't make this apparent to me," said Steve. There was a reason Heather kept her crush a secret: Steve had a girlfriend all through high school. After graduation, Heather earned her elementary education degree at Shippensburg University and is now a kindergarten teacher at KinderCare in Downingtown.

For our first Christmas after retirement, we chose to do something different. As a pastor, my previous 39 Christmas Eves had been spent leading worship. As happy as that experience was, the thought of being free was also exciting. So on the morning of Dec. 24, my wife, Hope, and I left the quiet central Pennsylvania town of Gratz (population 662) and drove to New York City. At lunch before seeing War Horse at Lincoln Center, Hope whispered that Hoda Kotb was at the next table.

GINO GAETANO PAPOLA was not only a busy physician, but a devoted Catholic who found time to lecture around the country on the sanctity of life. He also was a regular visitor to the Vatican, where he was honored by two popes, met Mother Teresa (Blessed Teresa of Calcutta) and other Catholic dignitaries and clergy. He received Communion from Pope John Paul II and was honored with the Knighthood of St. Gregory by John Paul II and Pope Paul VI. Dr. Gino Papola, who served leadership roles at St. Agnes Hospital, had his private practice for many years in Upper Darby, was two-term president of the International Association of Catholic Physicians, an Army veteran and devoted father, grandfather and great-grandfather, died Christmas Eve. He was 91 and was living in a nursing facility in West Brandywine, but had lived in South Philadelphia, Drexel Hill and Bryn Mawr over the years.

A NORTHEAST Philadelphia man left out some vital information when he called 9-1-1 at 6 a.m. yesterday to report that his mother was experiencing chest pains. As paramedics were taking the 78-year-old woman out of the Kirkwood Road home on a stretcher, he mentioned that his pop was lounging in a recliner. Dead. For awhile now. "When the rescue guys are taking mom out, he says, 'Can you take my dad with you?' " said a source in Northeast Detectives. The 84-year-old father, who hasn't been identified, apparently spent Christmas in the recliner, but likely died on Christmas Eve. "He was dead for a couple days," the source said.

PORTLAND - While the start of an NBA basketball season is one that is filled with emotions for players, coaches and fans, sometimes reality rears its head and gives a whole new perspective as to what is important in life. Sixers coach Doug Collins gave the team off on Christmas Eve so his players could enjoy the holiday as they were scheduled to fly to Portland on Christmas Day and practice there later that night. It was on the team's off day that guard Lou Williams found himself in a little bit of a mess.

Obama, in Hawaii, marks Christmas HONOLULU - President Obama exchanged gifts with his family, sang carols, and attended church services as he celebrated Christmas in Hawaii. The president and his family woke up early Sunday to exchange gifts, the White House said, then had breakfast and sang Christmas carols at the multimillion-dollar house they are renting in Kailua Beach, near Honolulu. Later, the Obamas made the short trip to the chapel at Marine Corps Base Hawaii for Christmas services.

By Todd R. Nelson In 11th-grade shop class, I worked all fall on a dining room table. It would be a Christmas present for my parents, and a great surprise. My teacher offered me the project based on something he had seen in a woodworking design book - a butcher block table five feet in diameter. It was the biggest shop project I had ever done. Week after week, during the two periods before history class, I worked away, sawing two-inch-thick pine boards into square strips, laminating them into 12-inch sections, joining the sections, and then cutting a circle out of the large square blank.

Heavy rain tonight and tomorrow should give way to a crisp, but chilly, Christmas weekend. Today should see mild weather with highs approaching 58 degrees. Rain will move in tonight, heavy at times, with the possibility of an inch or more. More rain is likely tomorrow, with a high of 52. But accumulation does not look heavy, according to the National Weather Service. By Saturday, the skies should clear in time for Christmas Eve, with a high of 46, and low of around 34. Christmas Day looks to be partly sunny, with a high near 47. The low overnight Sunday into Monday will remain above freezing, with a low of about 35. Last year, a snowstorm rolled in the day after Christmas.

Kelsey Bozarth and her family always celebrate Christmas Eve with a special song. They cue up Bing Crosby's "Mele Kalikimaka," often called "the Hawaiian Christmas Song," and sing along. Sometimes they even dance. It's doubtful this endearing ritual, begun decades ago by Bozarth's grandfather, had ever been the subject of a scholarly discussion in a university classroom. Until this year. "I told my professor, 'I have this family tradition and I'm really passionate about it,' " explains Bozarth, 21, a Rowan University senior from Burlington County.

As chef Jean-Marie Lacroix pulls a shallow copper pan out of the oven, the smell of garlic, butter, and parsley-rich escargots hits the nose before the dish hits the table. To Lacroix, the fragrance is rich with nostalgia - snails mean Christmas to this French chef. It's really all his Center City home needs to complete the motif. He is as adept with pruning shears as he is with prunes, so his cozy abode is filled with greenery, and now, overflowing with glitter-dusted poinsettias.