The morning of January 1, 1939, a man named Martin wakes in his girlfriend, Alpha’s, home and smiles as he remembers that she accepted his proposal the night before. He muses about how the sudden blizzard and coming of the New Year had provided a perfect backdrop to his proposal, as he had to spend the night at Alpha’s house. Martin questions if he had imagined Alpha’s acceptance of his proposal and laments that even if she did say yes, they would struggle from now on due to their families not getting along.  He remembers his own parents seeing Alpha’s father walking through the neighborhood, singing and shouting, and expressing distaste for his apparent “atheism.” Within Alpha’s home, however, her father is strangely quiet. Even so, during the night he proposed, Martin overheard both of Alpha’s parents insulting Catholics for their alleged hypocrisy and sexual habits, and Martin is Catholic himself.  In the morning, Martin sees that Alpha’s father is also awake, and he reveals that he and Alpha’s mother know that Martin proposed. Alpha’s father says that they need to attend church together this morning and offers Martin a tie. As he helps Martin get his car out of the snow, Alpha’s father reveals that his wife actually forgot that today is a Sunday.